


Millennium Leap

by GreyLiliy



Category: Quantum Leap, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Crossover, Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2005-08-03
Updated: 2007-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-20 21:22:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15542430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyLiliy/pseuds/GreyLiliy
Summary: Sam has leaped yet again to find himself in the body of young Ryou Bakura. How will he handle his assignment when he can barely handle the new voice in his head?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> First posted on my Fanfiction.net account on Aug 3, 2005 and while I don’t know the dates of everything in between, Chapter 10 was first posted on Aug 14, 2007. Crossposted to Archive of Our Own on August 2, 2018. Original Author’s notes have been kept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edited: 6/24/07

They say life throws you curve balls and leaping through time and space has taught me that’s no lie. In other words, I've learned to always be prepared for the unexpected events that life will send your way. In the end, I think it’s a shame that while I’ve learned that lesson many a time before that I haven’t paid enough attention to it. No matter what I do I always seem to run into something that throws me for a loop…

* * *

Sam felt the pull of a leap yet again after a mission well done and all in all it hadn’t been that bad of an assignment. With the help of Al he successfully kept Ms. Julie Richards from being swindled by that jerk of a boyfriend. And not only did it go off without a hitch, but Sam was happy this one went well. No woman should have to put up with that sort of abuse. The only difficult part of the mission, really, was trying to remember he was a ten-year-old boy from Ms. Richards’ point of view. Being _much_ older than ten normally, Sam had issues holding his tongue. Ten year olds shouldn't come across as overly intelligent. Ah, sweet complications, but they only make it more fun in the end. However, now wasn’t the time to remember the past. Sam needed to figure out where he was at the present and his new assignment.

Sam opened his eyes and blinked a few times to take in his surroundings. _A school?_ Sam immediately took note of the blue uniforms on all of the guys and the pink girls’ uniforms scattered throughout the classroom. So he was either in a private school or a country that required uniforms even in public school. Everyone looked to be about fifteen or sixteen and was chatting happily with one another. After a look down at himself, he noted he too was in a blue uniform buttoned all the way to the top. Sam assumed everyone was on a break or something because there was no teacher in sight and the students were chatting away happily without another care in the world. 

Sam took note of the different faces and wondered just who he was and how he fit into this entire situation. It seemed peaceful enough. His curiosity was cut short when he felt a tug on his sleeve. “Hey! Bakura, are you still in there?”

Sam turned his head to stare down into a pair of huge violet eyes. He swallowed. “Oh boy.”


	2. Part 1. Landlord? Me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! If you're here it means you made it through the prologue and I managed to keep your interest. This is a gift fic for my roommate which means I'll be working hard on it to keep it interesting. It was made for a Quantum Leap addict, but I think I've worked in enough exposition so that even a non-Quantum Leap fan should be able to enjoy the fic. If you want more info than the explanations I've provided (or a picture of the characters), just do a quick Google search for QL and enjoy! This fic will focus on Sam dealing with our favorite Tomb Robbing spirit, but suggestions are highly welcome. Especially if you're a fan of Quantum Leap, little series tidbits will be appreciated. Without further ado, I present Part 1.
> 
> Edit 6/24/07: Prologue and the first chapter have been revised and edited. Added about a page's worth of text and cleaned it up. Stay tuned for the rest of the chapters to be revised as well.

Sam quickly gathered himself enough to reply to the younger boy looking at him expectantly. He let out a light cough and ran a hand through his hair nervously. Those eyes were just so big and cheerful. "Oh, yes. Just zoned out there for a bit, didn't I?"

"Just checking! You looked confused and that would be a problem since you're tutoring me on these math problems." The strange boy with the star shaped hair smiled back and chuckled. Sam's eyes fell onto the upside down pyramid pendant around his neck, but quickly looked back a his face when the boy started talking again. "If you don't understand the problems, then there's no chance I'll get it."

"Yes, yes. And that would be trouble, wouldn't it?" _Good in math. Okay, so I'm smart whoever I am._ Sam interrupted his own thoughts as he took a triple take at the boy in front of him. Now that he was less on guard and knew a bit about himself, he could concentrate more on who he was talking to. _How on earth does someone get blond bangs and black hair tipped in red to stand up like that? Better question – Why would someone do that to their hair?_

_I've been asking that question for years._ A foreign thought entered his mind this time but Sam brushed it off when the boy started talking again. He needed to pay attention or he'd be in trouble. There was also no sign of Al yet and Sam wished Ziggy could find him faster after leaps!

"Bakura! You zoned out again!" The boy grinned wider. "Something on your mind?" He paused again and his eyes widened. It was like he was spacing out a tad and he giggled suddenly. Just as suddenly he stopped and the boy started rubbing the back of his head with a shy look on his face. "Oh sorry, guess it's my turn to zone, but really, is there something bothering you?"

"No, not really. Sorry I'm so out of it today." Sam tried to smile, "Maybe I just didn't get enough sleep or something."

Sam didn't have time to hear his strange companion's reply or consider the new thoughts in his head for he was soon knocked out of his chair by what looked like a yellow and blue blur. Sam let out a yelp when the blur fell on his back and his head hit the floor. Sam huffed when he realized the weight on his back was moaning. _I'm too old for this..._ Sam thought to himself. Teenagers were far too active for his tastes.

"Sorry, Bakura! Sorry Yugi!" As the weight shifted off of him, he found that the yellow part of the blur to be a mop of messy yellow hair attached to the teenager who was now helping him up. This one had more normal brown eyes and a quirky smirk. The new comer yanked him up by the arm and as if he just remembered something, quickly turned to dash out shouting "S'cuse me guys!" after himself.

"I bet Anzu caught him in the girl's locker room again." The boy now identified as Yugi laughed. "Time's like this I'm glad I was studying instead of tagging along."

Yugi and the blonde boy are close friends. Sam made note of that if the smirk on Yugi's face was any indication, and sure enough, soon after Sam watched a brunette slam the door of the classroom open with her pink uniform rumpled like she had dressed in a hurry. "Where's Jonouchi!" She practically shrieked and Sam winced. She looked far more angry than she should be for something like peeping in a girl's locker room.

"I called it! Right, Bakura?" Yugi continued to giggle as the girl, who Sam assumed was Anzu, flipped over desks looking for the blonde. Everyone else in the class ignored her like this was an everyday event. For all Sam knew, it was. _Guess that makes the blonde, Jonouchi._ Yugi kept laughing as Anzu tore apart the room. He noticed her start threatening a boy with brown hair gelled into a single spike. Sam smiled as the boy's defenses failed and almost laughed when he pointed to Jonouchi hiding behind the teacher's desk. Anzu was at Jonouchi's heals in an instant while the brunette shouted "Sorry buddy!"

"Poor Honda, Jonouchi's going to get him for that later." Yugi crossed his arms on Sam's desk and nestled his head in them. He started staring out into space again and Sam wondered if the boy was ADD or something. It was at this point Sam also noticed that Yugi was very short, even compared to the view of his fellow classmates and not just as an adult. _He can't be more than four feet._

_I told you. Midget Pharaoh._

Sam was getting more confused by the minute with all the chaos of laughing students and bickering. He was thinking things he didn't remember thinking. A quiet moment was needed to get everything sorted out, and that was for sure. Not to mention he needed to find Al so he could find out what he needed to do to leap out of this world. "Excuse me," he paused and shook the boy's shoulder. "Yugi."

"Yes, Bakura?" The boy looked up from his zoning session after he was shook. That perpetual smile of Yugi's had started to unnerve Sam just a touch. It was kind of creepy, like looking at a puppy with too big of eyes for its head.

"Could you excuse me for a moment?" Sam stood up from his seat and pushed the chair under the desk. He straightened out his uniform jacket and waited for a reply from the boy. "I have to go to the restroom."

"Oh, sure." Yugi replied cheerfully before replacing the smile with a considerate look. He seemed to have made up his mind about something. "I should go help Jonouchi out, anyway."

Sam made his way past his fellow students to the hall outside of the classroom leaving all the action behind him. A quick trip down the hall showed him to a men's restroom. _Perfect._ Sam checked to make sure he was the only occupant before he settled himself in front of a mirror. The face that stared back at him couldn't have been more than sixteen years old, but that's not what worried him. _My hair is white._ Sam's eyes doubled as he reached a hand to his shoulder length fluffy white hair. The hand in the mirror felt the white hair and pulled out a single strand. _My hair is white, and it's natural._ Sam couldn't help but stare incredulously at the boy's image in the mirror. What would cause a boy to have white hair? Albino came to mind, but the boy clearly had dark brown eyes, so that was out. He almost lost himself in thought trying to figure it out.

"What do you know, Sam? You're a chick again!"

Sam jumped from his musings at the new voice in the room. He breathed a sigh of relief as recognition hit. He turned around to smile at his long term and best friend. "Hey, Al."

Sam turned back to the mirror again and leaned over the sink bracing on his hands, "Are you sure you don't want to take that back." Sam smirked at Al and his pin stripe suit with polka-dotted vest. "The uniform says I'm male." He looked at himself again in the mirror and pulled out a touch of the fabric around the chest. "I hope."

"Ah, whatever." Al pulled out a cigar and stuck it in his mouth. He loved teasing Sam, it was always such fun. "What's important is you made it safe and sound."

Sam continued to play with his hair in the mirror. It was fluffy. "Ziggy know anything yet?"

"Nothing major." Al pulled Ziggy out and started pressing buttons to pull up the desired information. He lit his cigar and took a drag on it before continuing. "Your name is Ryou Bakura, you're fifteen and you attend Domino High School." He let out a puff of smoke. "That's your lot for the moment."

"That's not very much to go off of, you know." Sam frowned. "Is there anything about his personality? His friends? Classes even?"

"What do you expect? The kid's not really talking to us at the moment. He seems content to ignore us all for some reason." Al shrugged and kept pressing buttons trying to make Ziggy cooperate. "It's like he's used to it or something."

"Wonder why, usually they do something to try and find out where they are right?"

"Usually. Maybe the kid's special." Al grinned and snickered to himself. "You get to play a kid with quirks. Fun."

Sam rubbed his temple and laughed. "If only it's that easy."

"Oh, lucky you. The kid's had a female fan base since he moved to the school" Al smiled to himself and flung one of his hands out dramatically. "Ah, high school girls, not quite women but well on their way there." He took another drag on his cigar and let the smoke out slowly.

"Only you would think a swarm of girls following you was lucky."

_Landlord, who the hell are you talking to?_ A voice sounded in Sam's head.

Sam jumped. For once he was sure that it wasn't his own thoughts echoing around in his head. "Did you hear that, Al?"

"Hear what, Sam?"

_Who's Al?_

"That voice just now!" Sam wished he could shake Al's holographic shoulders. This was _not_ the time for Al to be playing with him. "It just asked who you were, Al!"

_Again, Landlord, who is Al?_

"I'm not hearing a voice, Sam." Al quirked an eyebrow. "You feeling okay?"

"I think it's inside my head." Sam pulled a hand to his brow. It definitely sounded like it was coming from inside his own head.

"In your head?" Al pulled his cigar down slowly and stared at his buddy. The guy looked confused and was holding his hands over his ears like he was trying to block out some noise.

"Yes! Al, there's a voice in my head and it's not mine!" Sam was starting to breathe faster. "I shouldn't be hearing anybody else's thoughts but mine."

The voice was calm when it started again. _I'm asking once more._ The voice was shouting when it continued for contrast. It was practically shrieking at him. _Who the hell is Al? You're pushing your luck, Landlord!_

Sam clutched at his head as the pounding headache started creeping along his temples and to the base of his neck. "And it keeps calling me 'landlord.'"

"Are you going to be okay, Sam?" Al was becoming concerned watching Sam hold his head and shaking slightly.

"It's this voice, Al! It's screaming at me!" Sam tried to steady himself and his breathing. He just had to be calm and look at this situation rationally. It he did that than there'd be a logically explanation and he wouldn't have to deal with it.

Al took a nervous, yet curious, puff on his cigar. He leaned over to get a better look at Sam. "What does it sound like?"

"It's Angry, Al."

_Damn right I'm angry! Hell, we'll go with pissed! Now start talking! Who is Al?_

"Who are you?" Sam shouted.

"I'm Al, Sam." And Al was becoming very concerned.

"Not you! I'm talking to the voice in my head! Who are you?" Sam was looking around for the voice now. There was a chance that it wasn't in his head and that this was someone screwing with him. Maybe this Ryou kid got bullied in school or something. He started checking toilet stalls for someone playing a joke on him. He opened them one by one to find each one empty and mocking him. "I swear if this is a joke it's not funny!"

_Who am I?_ The voice sounded outright dumbfounded. It wasn't even confused – just astounded by his response. The voice was cautious when he continued. _What game are you playing at, little Landlord?_

"No games! I honestly don't know who you are or where you are." Sam listened for the response while trying to ignore the developing headache. At least the voice was screaming anymore. Sam wasn't sure how much of that he could take.

_Fine, Landlord. I'll play along._ The voice sounded amused now. _We'll just play a little game of mine later to make up for it._

Sam didn't like the sound of that and there was far too much glee in the tone of its voice. "Okay, than answer. Who are you?"

_You never answered me before. That's rude._ Sam could almost hear the 'tsk tsk.' _Who is Al?_

"A friend." Sam answered. "A friend who thinks I'm crazy because he clearly can't hear you."

Al shrugged in response. He had given up trying to talk to Sam a while ago and resorted to checking Ziggy to make sense of Sam's one sided conversation. There had to be some answer for this in the files. If worse came to worse he'd have to force the Ryou kid to start talking.

"Your turn." Sam continued. "Who are you?"

_So bold my host?_ The voice chuckled. Yes, now it was definitely amused. _Alright, I did say I'd play. I am a thief. The darkness. Your very own spirit of the Millennium Ring._ He could almost feel the confident smirk as the voice continued. _Who else?_

"Millennium Ring?" Sam shot a look a Al as he repeated that part of the voice's dialog in hope either party would answer. Al nodded at him and Sam was glad he picked up on the hint.

"Ziggy's got nothing, Sam." Al replied with his eyes still buried in Ziggy's monitor. "Not a mention or a peep anywhere. But I'll check again to make sure."

_Yes. The Millennium Ring. The giant gold trinket around your neck that I never let you take off, A gift from your father. One of a set of seven. I stabbed you with it when you first heard me. Ringing any bells yet?_ Bakura held his head in his soul room. This game was loosing its appeal and quickly. Something was off with his host and Bakura didn't appreciate being conveniently forgotten. He was acting even more ditsy than usual; Maybe the kid hit his head on the floor too hard when the blonde puppy knocked him over. _Maybe we should just continue this chat face to face, Landlord._

"Face to face?" Sam could feel himself get dizzy and watched his vision fade away. He groped out towards Al's hands but it was no use.

"Sam! You okay?" Al could only watch as Sam's eyes glazed over and his body fell foreword. Al would have caught him, but some days it just didn't pay to be a hologram. "Sam!"

* * *

 "You are _not_ my Landlord." Bakura stated simply. Instead of seeing his host in the shared space of their mind, Bakura was staring at a middle aged man with brown hair. Needless to say, Bakura was not amused. There was only _one_ spirit who could possess this body. The ancient thief did not share and this new intruder was going to learn that lesson very quickly.

Sam was looking around frantically. All he saw was an endless amount of purple and black clouds. "Where am I?" Sam turned to look behind him and saw someone else standing there with his arms crossed and face scowling. "And who are you!"

"I already told you who I was, now start talking. Where's my Landlord and who are you?" Bakura nearly growled in his impatience.

"Landlord?" Sam couldn't help but stare at the figure before him. He was like a twisted version of the boy in the mirror, only with meaner eyes and spikier hair. That same white hair was flaring everywhere around his face and in the air. This boy also seemed to look taller – or maybe he was just thinner. It was hard to tell, but the increased angles on his face and the forced and debouched scowl revealed years of a hardened soul.

"Yes, the owner of the body I possess. Ryou Bakura." Bakura took a few menacing steps foreword and gripped his fists tightly. The man didn't flinch and Bakura's scowl got even deeper – if that was possible. "And I'm not a patient spirit."

Sam didn't know what to do. He barely understood what was going on and this kid was getting angrier at the minute. Sam knew some martial arts to defend himself, sure, but this kid had a blood lust in his eyes that worried him. "Wait, we're inside my body? Where is here?"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "This is the plain in the human conscious that lets us talk face to face when we don't just use our thoughts to talk." Bakura huffed as his anger slowly conformed into annoyance. The man before him was an idiot. "You can take over a body but you don't even know how to talk to the host. Pathetic."

"Hey! I don't exactly work with details, I just get zapped into people." Sam was starting to get unnerved. Who was this brat to tell him what to do?

"I could care less."

"And another thing, is that what we were doing earlier? Talking with our thoughts?" Sam's curiosity was getting the better of him despite the frustration. This was quiet a discovery and he wondered if he'd be able to do in other leaps. It wasn't everyday he got a new trick.

"What I was doing earlier," Bakura crossed his arms. "You were speaking out loud. Now I want to know who you are and what you're doing in my host! There's only room in here for one extra!"

"My name is Sam, and what I'm doing here is complicated." Sam held his head. He honestly didn't know what to do about this and nothing he could think of was helping. Sam definitely wasn't expecting to explain the wonderful life he lived to a perfect stranger. "And I can honestly say I've never leaped to find even the original host, as you put it, still here, let alone somebody else." Sam couldn't help but find his voice raising ever so slightly.

"Leaped?" Bakura tilted his head to the side to study this man closer. He looked capable, and as much as he hated to admit, smarter than he appeared before. Confused as hell though, and Bakura snickered at that thought.

"Yeah, leaped. Long story."

"Well, we've got time, but you still haven't answered where my Landlord is!" Bakura thrust out an accusing finger towards the old man in his usual dramatic pose. "And that's going to be answered _right now_ or you're going to regret it."

"Fine, not usually supposed to tell anyone about this but since you clearly see me and not this Ryou Bakura then looks like I've got no choice." Sam stood straighter. He was a genius and had handled much worse situations. He just needed to get a grip and take charge. Now that he thought about it, this Bakura was seeming more and more like a spoiled child than anything. "But let's make this fair. I'll tell you one thing if you tell me something about you. I've never met a spirit before now."

"Fair enough." Bakura sat down Indian style and pat his thigh for the other man to follow. No point and standing on their feet all day if they could help it. "We've introduced. Start talking, what's a leap?"

"Where I jump from person to person in different times and places. I basically take over that person's life from the start of the leap to the finish. Everyone else sees and hears the person that should be there, except for Al, but I'm still me. I usually have to wing it so no one notices." Sam joined him on the floor with a soft thump as he landed.

"Well, blew that. Because I definitely noticed, well at least when you came here." Bakura thought and frowned to himself. He was pretty fooled into thinking that guy was Ryou before he yanked him into their head. "But then again, no one else gets to see your bare soul in a day do they?"

Sam had to think about that. He was seeing a person's soul? This was his very soul in this room? It was almost too much to think about, but it did make a crazy sort of sense. "Yeah, when I was outside in control you saw the same thing everyone else does: Ryou Bakura. When you're here you see me for me. Your turn, what are you doing here if this is Ryou's body?"

Bakura smiled. Well, it was more of a smirk than a smile, but that was a minor detail. "I'm a spirit who was trapped in the millennium ring, which is around _your_ neck now by the way, three thousand years ago. I awoke in this time and possessed the body of Ryou Bakura."

"Is spirit your name?"

"Ah, ah! That's two questions in a row. Naughty, naughty." Bakura swished an index finger at him in a taunting manner. "Now then, tell me where my host is."

"He's where I should be. The person I leap into finds themselves in my body with Al at my lab where this whole thing got started. They sit nice and neat in a white room until I leap out and someone else gets stuck there." Sam shrugged and leaned back on his arms. "According to Al they're just peachy and sit there until they get to leave."

Bakura felt some tension leave, his host would be fine by himself for a while. "Your turn." Not that he would show he was concerned about the boy.

"Why is yours and Ryou's hair white?" Sam knew it was random, but he was curious.

Bakura twitched. "It's natural. What more did you need to know? Waste of a question. Who is this Al?" Bakura twirled a piece of his hair. "More detail this time."

Sam sighed. "Al is my best friend in the time I was in before all this leaping started. He's helping me out with leaps until I finally leap back to my own body. He shows up with me at each time in the form of a hologram with Ziggy." Sam paused.

Bakura almost asked what a 'Ziggy' was, but knew better to be caught for a mistake like that. He licked his lips absently. "Everyone just calls me Bakura because it's easiest. But they refer to my host as such as well, it can get confusing to say the least." He paused briefly before caving to curiosity. "What's a Ziggy?"

"Ziggy is a computer. It tells me what I have to fix before I can leap out and information about the people around me." Sam watched Bakura's mind start working. His lips pursed and his eyebrow raised slightly. "I can tell you want to ask, but I want to know how you were trapped in the ring."

"None of your business." Bakura glared as he shouted. "You could ask the Pharaoh in little Yugi's body, since he did it all those years ago after all, but he doesn't remember. Another waste of a question, not that you would have known, but I'm not answering that one."

"Fair enough. You might as well ask." Sam leaned his head on his hand. This was going to be a very long assignment. He hated dealing with people who had short tempers and Bakura's temper seemed to constantly be near the boiling point.

"What did you mean by fix?" Bakura tilted his head. "Are you some sort of mechanic or something?"

"No, nothing like that." Sam chuckled a little at the naive comment and the perpetual frown that followed. "Every time I leap I have to solve a problem for my 'host,' as you put it, before I can leap out. Doing God's work you could say. And the assignment could be anything from passing a literature test to saving someone's life. It all depends, really."

Bakura had to think on this one. What if the problem was him? Or had something to do with the items. He could almost feel his heart quicken before he calmed himself. It wouldn't be an issue, this man was no threat to the great Thief King. Not that this Sam knew who he was dealing with. And if worse came to worse he'd think of some other way to get Ryou back. "Interesting. And doing it all while pretending to be someone else, is it?"

"More or less." Sam lifted his head suddenly. He was surprised this thought hadn't occurred to him earlier. "Hey, if we're inside my mind, then what's happening on the outside?"

"The body lies unconscious. One of us has to be in charge or it just lies there." Bakura shrugged and leaned back. The body was fine so he really couldn't care who found it unconscious. Not like it would matter, retribution for hurting his host was always fun.

"So if you took over, I'd be stuck back here." Sam started to feel worried at where these musings were leading.

"You are smart. But no worries as of yet, I see no need to keep you here longer than necessary." Bakura rolled on his side and sat up. "Ryou comes back when you're gone, correct?"

"And he won't remember a thing." Sam stood as he added that last little tidbit.

"Good." Bakura stretched out his body like a sleek alley cat. "Like he needed another stress in his life; it's starting to rub off on me."

Sam almost laughed but then it hit him. "Wait! Al's outside with an unconscious body!"

"Ah yes, your hologram friend. Wonder why I can't see him since I'm in your head at the moment." Bakura sat up and jumped up on his feet.

"His frequency is set to my brain patterns, I'm assuming we have different ones."

Bakura laughed. "So you can see both of us but we can't see each other. Brilliant!"

This boy's laugh was creepy, but Sam shrugged it off. "How do I get back out? And how do I talk to you without coming, well, here?"

"Just think at me, I'll get it." He winked with a vicious smirk attached. "Catch you later."

Sam felt a strong tug and everything went black again. He could feel his eyes closed, but he could hear a voice so he opened them to find a frantic Al.

* * *

 This wasn't good. No, this wasn't good at all. Sam was unconscious on the floor and there was no reason for it. No students were coming by to find him and help. Al obviously couldn't do anything because he was a hologram and Sam just wouldn't wake up! "Damn!"

Al was starting to wonder about this school when twenty minutes past and no one was coming into the bathroom to find him. What? Did none of them ever get a full bladder or skip class? He was still worried out of his mind and he couldn't do anything to fix the problem. Ziggy was no help either, Ryou Bakura may suffer from blackouts but that shouldn't affect Sam at all! Al stopped his rant to see Sam open his eyes. "Oi! Sam is that you?"

"Al?" Sam muttered and slapped a hand over his face and pulled down slightly with a groan. "Why does my head hurt?"

"Thank God, Sam!" Al breathed deep and held his chest. He reached into his pocket to pull out a calming cigar since his first one was left forgotten and smoldering on the floor. "You had me worried. And your head probably hurts because you whacked it pretty hard when you fell."

"Oh yeah," Sam stood up using the sink as a brace. He recalled his conversation for the past twenty minutes or so and licked his lips. "Al."

"What is it Sam?" Al took a step closer.

"This is going to be a long assignment. Did Ziggy say anything about Ryou Bakura being possessed by a three thousand year old spirit who lives in this ring?" Sam dug it out from under the uniform jacket to show it off. Now that he knew it was there, Sam was surprised that he hadn't noticed it earlier. It really was a gold ring embossed with they Eye of Ra, if Sam remembered correctly. _Ouch._ He also remembered Bakura's comment earlier about being stabbed with the spikes coming off the ring. _That had to have hurt._

_It wasn't that bad. Landlord was too worried about the psycho voice in his head to worry about the bleeding._ Sam felt Bakura smiling. It was sort of creepy to feel someone's emotions directly. _You get used to it._

"Sam?" Al looked concerned, again. He felt it might become a habit on this round of the leaping game. He snapped his fingers in front of the man's face. "You zoned out."

"Sorry, Al. I might do that on this mission, Bakura likes to talk." Sam leant against the sink. "And I'm not very good at talking to more than one person at a time in two different realms of thought."

"Bakura? Isn't that the kid's name?" Al waved his cigar in the air and the smoke filtered about the room.

"Yeah, the spirit goes by the kid's name to make things easy but confusing." Sam sighed and smiled softly. "I think he likes screwing with people."

_Damn straight._

"Well, was there anything on this ring?" Sam fingered it again and felt the cool golden surface underneath his fingers. It was rather pretty in an odd, macabre way.

"No, but maybe that Ryou kid will start talking if we ask him about it." Al opened a portal and held his cigar in a salute up to his forehead. "I'll see what I can do, but in the meantime do like you always do and wing it, Sam." Al winked as he stepped through the portal.

"Yeah, wing it. This is going to be something else."

_You said it._ Sam cringed at the laughter that followed. That really was going to take some time to get used to. _Now go to class. You're late._

"Something else entirely." Sam shook his head back and forth as he tried to find his way back to class. If he was lucky this would be an easy mission and over with before he knew it.

_I rather doubt it._

Sam found himself agreeing.


	3. Part 2. Getting the Basics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Part 2 has arrived. Still reading? Yay! I want to thank everyone who's reviewed so far – your input is helpful. And, Roxie Archer's got it in one with a suspicious Pharaoh later on. As far as the timeline is concerned, I'm using the Manga Universe (Ryou's back story is more complete I feel.) and it takes place before the Egyptian Arc. I'm not sure if Malik will make an appearance or not, I guess it depends how much people want to see him now that Sam's problem has been revealed! Opps! Don't want to tell you too much. - Have fun & Thanks for reading!
> 
> Edit: 6/27/07 – This chapter wasn't as bad as the first one to edit, but I still added a good amount of text and cleaned up the dialog and descriptions. And just to add to the old Author's note – Malik does indeed make an appearance later in the fiction if that's what you wanted to see.

Bakura really did like to talk. Sam held his head in his arms while he tried to take notes but it was difficult with a constant voice ringing in your ears. And worse, Sam had no idea how long this was going to last and for all he knew all he had to do was make sure Ryou passed that math test next week. Bakura's comments ranged from bored remarks to out right insults and crude belittling of both peers and teachers. Though, Bakura's comment about the teacher looking like she needed a good slap with her own ruler was fairly amusing. Ah well, Sam knew Quantum Physics; how hard could a math test be? He set his notes aside and attempted a conversation with his new self-appointed mission partner in their head. Apparently this Bakura fellow wanted his little 'landlord' back and set himself up to the task of getting Sam out as quickly as possible. It amused Sam because Bakura was desperately attempting to help and still look like he could care less what happened to the kid.

Sam might as well cover the basics since Al hadn't been much help in that department with Ziggy. Ryou's friends weren't much of indicators either considering they hadn't even noticed a difference in his personality yet. _So, what's this Ryou like?_

 _A dork. He's a klutz, he's an optimist and he never takes a hint that his so called friends ignore him most of the time._ Bakura sighed and hoped he wouldn't have to explain every little detail about the ins and outs of his landlord. Wasn't that what that 'ziggy' thing was for? _And he's got the most sappy smile, ever._

_Fair enough. Who are his friends, then?_

_The short punk looking kid is Yugi, that boy makes friends with everyone he can, so clearly my little Landlord was on his list the moment he moved in. I'd probably define him as my host's 'best friend' if we're labeling._ Bakura growled as he continued down the line of twerps. _With Yugi comes the Pharaoh, watch out for him because he hates me and I'll bet money he'll think you're me if you don't pull Landlord's behavior off right._ Bakura chuckled at the sudden thought of the Pharaoh harping on Sam with the same fury he would normally reserve for him. That might almost be worth misleading the man on his landlord's behavior to see. _Find the Pharaoh and you get the tag-a-long team._ Bakura's amusement was soon gone and replaced with boredom again with a slight huff. _You've met most of them, Jonouchi (the mutt), Honda (the idiot), and Anzu (just annoying) - or at least you've seen them._ Bakura smirked. _In all honesty, they don't talk to you very much unless you open your mouth. So just keep quiet and nod._

Sam thought about that for a little bit. From what he'd seen the rest of Bakura's friends were quite the tight-nit group. _I wonder if having Ryou's friends acknowledge him more is part of it?_

Bakura huffed loudly and rolled his eyes. _I should hope not. I think I'd have to slaughter them if I saw them any more in a day than I already do. That Anzu girl doesn't shut up as it is. He's content that I'm not trapping them into little Monster World figures, so I doubt that's it._

Sam had to blink at that one. _Come again?_

 _Never mind, you'll see when we get to the apartment._ Bakura smiled at fun times. What he'd give to shove Yami into a figurine and smash his head in; such fun times, indeed. _They try not to bring up that event._

Sam blinked again and churned that first statement around in his head. _Wait, trapping them in figurines?_ _You can put people into inanimate objects?_

 _Yes, soul stealer. The Darkness. Blah, blah, blah, we've been over this._ Bakura growled at the annoyance. This guy was supposed to be smart; why did Bakura have to keep repeating himself? _Magical powers. You'll get used to it like all of his friends have soon enough._

Speaking of Ryou's friends, Yugi was doing something strange. Sam glanced at the boy from the corner of his eyes. Yugi was staring out into space and not blinking much like he had been doing earlier when they first met. It was just so odd that Sam found himself asking Bakura about it. _What's he doing?_

 _Probably talking to the Pharaoh._ Bakura was getting bored. Maybe he could take over the body and go beat up unsuspecting bullies or something during break. _It's what we look like when we talk, too._

Sam laid his head down on the desk. His life just had to be interesting, didn't it? Well, on the bright side he was dealing with ghosts for the first time in his life. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to actually interact with a real dead spirit. Or at least, he hoped it was a real dead spirit. It would be sad if he was just falling for a trick, but it didn't seem to be that way. How else would Bakura be able to see him for who he was as Sam? Bakura certainly wasn't a dog. The only downfall he could see is the spirit he got to meet was a moody dead spirit. Maybe he would have been better off if Bakura was a dog…

_I heard that._

Because he apparently listens to more than just the thoughts Sam wanted him to hear. Sam could hear the chuckling in the back of his head and wished he could throw something at Bakura to shut him up for five minutes. There had to be a way to do it, but when the laughter in the back of his head increased he just sighed and laid his head on his desk. After glancing back up at the teacher and the algebra notes, he decided maybe the constant chatter was a good thing. High School math just wasn't as interesting when you'd done it over and over again. Sam couldn't help the yawn.

He was broken out of his tired state by the piece of paper suddenly appearing on his desk with a soft rustle. He glanced to the side to see Yugi wave under his desk and a secretive grin on his face. Apparently his chat with this Pharaoh he'd heard about was over. He unfolded the note discretely under the desk and tried to control the crinkling to keep the teacher from noticing. It was a short and simple note and Sam questioned Bakura's descriptions of Ryou's friends. Just a quick little "you look down in the dumps, so smile!" type of letter from an overly cheerful kid. He could hear Bakura gagging in his head. Sam imagined himself smacking Bakura in the back of his head and nearly burst out laughing when he heard the yelp.

"Mr. Bakura!" Sam was broken out of his little thoughts by the teacher glaring at him. "Do you think it's fun to not pay attention in my class?"

 _Stutter and apologize._ Bakura yawned. If Sam was going to play his Landlord he should at least do it right.

"Sorry," Sam gulped and tried to sound nervous. He lowered his voice a decimal and tried to picture himself as small as a mouse. "It won't happen again."

"I'm sure it won't."

"It won't." Sam smiled at the teacher for effect. It didn't seem to be working in the slightest and Sam gulped for real when the teacher continued to glare at him.

"Well, since I have your attention why don't you do the problem that's on the board for us?" The teacher smirked. There was no way he'd get it, even if he was good at math.

Sam looked at the board for a few moments and answered without so much as picking up his pencil. "23xy squared."

The teacher looked at him funny for a moment before looking back at the bored. _Son of a._ "That's... correct."

_Lucky Guess._

_Shut up._ Sam let out a sigh of relief while the teacher scratched his head. Bakura was the reason he was in trouble with the teacher to begin with so he should really just hold his tongue.

The teacher wandered back to her seat. Since when could Ryou Bakura do algebra in his head? Sure he had good grades, but this was a little much. The professor wasn't the only one wondering where Bakura's sudden skills had come from either as Yugi was looking at his buddy funny, too. "Wow, Bakura. Maybe it is a good thing you're tutoring me."

 _Future reference, Landlord's smart but he's not that good._ Bakura rolled his eyes. For a guy who thought he was so smart he seemed to forget most teenagers can't do everything in their head.

"Ah," Sam shifted his eyes to the roof and grinned inwardly, "Lucky guess?"

Yugi smiled and fingered his puzzle. Yami was trying to ask him what had happened and was getting angry that Yugi was ignoring him. The Pharaoh had to learn that Yugi couldn't pay attention to just him all the time. "Well, lucky guess worked out well." Yugi's eyes glazed for a moment when Yami finally pestered him into submission. "Oh! Do you want to come to the arcade with us after school?"

Sam thought about it for a moment and decided he had better not. "I'm sorry, but I've got some things to do today." _Like figure out where I live and what I need to do to get out of here._

Yugi looked a little crestfallen, but perked up quick enough. "Okay, maybe later then?"

"Definitely." Sam smiled because it seemed like the right thing to do.

 _Sell out._ Bakura stuck his tongue out. _Stop spreading the damn love!_

"Pay attention!" Both Sam and Yugi were forced from their conversation by a piece of chalk smacking Sam in the head.

 _Ha, ha!_ Bakura couldn't help the laugh.

* * *

 "I'll tell you one thing Bakura, this job is so much easier when you've got a guide telling you how to act." Sam talked aloud to himself as he followed Bakura's directions home. There was no one around within earshot and concentrating his thoughts into sentences just for Bakura was a bit of a pain. "I managed to avoid some major embarrassing situations and I don't have to look up my address in a phone book or wait for Al to show me the way."

 _Stop talking out loud._ Bakura shuttered and winced while rubbing his arms in a mock fear fashion. _It's creepy hearing my host's voice but knowing it's not my host._

 _Sorry, but I take it I sound like myself in our head?_ Sam smiled and nodded at the lady who passed him on the street. As soon as she was gone he continued on like he had been. "Maybe I'll just talk out loud to confuse you."

_Do you want to know the way to our home or not?_

_Point taken._

_Good, take a left up here._ Bakura yawned. He just wanted to get home and go to sleep or watch TV. Something that didn't involve thought or moving would be nice. Ironic really considering he didn't move much during the day as is, but what can you do? _Third building on your right, room number's on the key in your pocket._

 _Thanks._ Sam spotted the building easily and nodded politely at the doorman. It seemed like a nice enough complex so he felt confident that his home matters probably weren't what was bothering Ryou. Unless of course it had to do with family, but at least the living situation was good. _But really Bakura, it is nice. Al gives help, but normally it's based on facts. He usually wouldn't know the intricate details._

 _You can tell I'm ecstatic for you._ Bakura's eyes were dropping. Keeping Sam in line and informed was more work than it looked. _Just get us home._

 _Fine, whatever you want._ Sam had to admit he was anxious to see the apartment as well. A shower and a bite to eat seemed like something both he and Bakura would enjoy at the moment. That and he was hungry; Ryou didn't seem to pack much for lunch and Bakura wasn't much help in telling Sam where the school store was located.

Sam let out a breath as he finally reached Ryou's apartment. It was quite a walk from the school, let alone up all those stairs for a man his age. He opened the door slowly as not to disturb anyone who could be inside. It wouldn't do to make a bad first impression with Ryou's family.

 _Be as loud as you want. We live alone and I couldn't give a damn about the neighbors._ Bakura hoped Sam would agree to a nap after he finished with his 'ohhs' and 'awws' at the wonder that was their apartment.

 _A fifteen year old boy lives by himself?_ Sam was baffled and it occurred to him that maybe he was dealing with the kid's home life instead of his friends or school. _I find that hard to believe considering how nice this place looks._

 _Daddy dearest is in Egypt and you live to far away to commute to your school without having an apartment close by._ Bakura stifled a yawn and frowned. Why wouldn't he just stop talking and go take a nap? _Them's the breaks kid._

"I'm not a kid."

 _I'm over three thousand years old._ Bakura smirked tiredly. _I do believe that makes you a 'kid' as far as I'm concerned._

 _As much help as you are, I'm really starting to not like you._ Sam smiled while he said it. It had also been some time that he'd had someone to bicker with other than Al as himself and not pretending to be someone else. It was, nice. _Ah well, at least you're helpful._

 _You wouldn't be the first to not like me._ Bakura paused and smiled softly to himself. _Landlord's pretty high up on that list so I'd say you're playing him well._

"Speaking, how do you know how to act like Ryou so much?" Sam thought. It would make sense that Bakura knew how Ryou acted, but he knew the kids ins and out down near to an art. "I guess it's from living in his head?"

 _Stop that._ Bakura growled and mentally smacked Sam in the head. He smirked when the man winced and cursed slightly. _It's more from pretending to be my landlord on a daily basis to save my own skin than anything._

 _Sorry._ Sam set his things down by the door and wondered where Ryou would be hiding some aspirin. Having Bakura around meant he'd probably be nursing a bottle of the stuff. _But why would you pretend to be Ryou?_

 _So I don't get caught. And that's all you really need to know._ _Anything else you need?_

 _I don't think so._ Sam walked around the apartment a bit and took in the sights. It looked like a fairly basic apartment, if not rather large for one person. The rent for this place must be out the roof. Sam found a living room, kitchen, couple of bedrooms and basic furniture, but all in all it was rather sparsely decorated. _It doesn't look very lived in, does it?_

 _The kid's neat and doesn't have much other than his hobby stuff._ Bakura yawned, again. He was going to force Sam to go to sleep if he didn't take a hint soon enough.

 _Tired?_ Sam paused and nearly chuckled. _I didn't expect that. C_ _an spirits get tired? Do they sleep? That's rather odd, don't you think?_

_I'm going to sleep. Do whatever you want just don't leave the apartment._

"Yes, sir." Sam ignored the flash of pain for that last little annoyance. He couldn't help himself. Served the jerk right for just brushing him off but at least now he was alone to look around without interruption. He'd ask Bakura if he had any questions after the thief had his nap – maybe then he'd be more palatable to take. Though, despite that thought to look around Sam ended up collapsing onto the couch himself after feeling Bakura's conscious drift off into slumber land. Sam decided to join him until Al could show up with more news and took one last look around the room as he calmed his heart beat and eased back into the cushions. Sam's eyes drifted closed after lingering on a model castle that was just in view from the room next to him.

* * *

 "Am I dead?" Ryou Bakura asked aloud to the gaping empty space before him. His eyes shifted around the room that he'd been in for quite some time now and found it to be white and there were weird people asking him things who showed up on occasion. He had refrained from talking to them until he could figure out what he wanted to say. The last thing he needed was to get into trouble.

"No, you're not dead." Al stated exasperatedly as he walked into the room. He was impressed the kid had held out as long a she did in replying to their hails and questions. "Just taking a break from the normal pace for a bit."

"Are you sure I'm not dead?"

"Positive. You won't even remember this whole thing so relax." Al looked at the kid as if trying to figure him out. He was looking straight at him with a similar expression; they were feeling each other out and carefully weighing their words. Al wanted a cigar.

"That can't be right." Ryou was trying hard to find Bakura in the back of his head while the man talked to him, but the spirit just wasn't there. Nothing else was there and there was a weight missing from his chest. Ryou definitely did not like the feeling that he was getting from that realization.

"And why is that, exactly?" Al was curious now as he watched the kid pat his chest. He must be looking for that ring Sam had mentioned.

"Because I can't feel Bakura." Ryou looked down and confirmed that the Millennium Ring was missing. That couldn't be good. "As far as I know, the only way to get rid of him completely is to die." He looked up with a soft smile and wondered if he should even be telling this man about Bakura. But he wasn't sure what else to talk about. "And even that's not certain. He always finds a way to get back to me. He did say I was his permanent host, after all."

"Bakura's that spirit!"

"That spirit?" Ryou looked away and quickly stopped talking; this guy knew too much already. It's one thing if you blab about something without context, but if he knows who Bakura is than Ryou should do the right thing and shut up before he _really_ gets into trouble. And this new guy had no taste in fashion, Ryou had to blanch inwardly at the mismatching colors and polka dots and stripes. And people made fun of _his_ sweaters.

"Care to tell me about him? I mean, more than the fact he's now in my friend's head now instead of yours?" Al looked hopeful as the kid turned those words around in his head. Maybe they'd find something new, punch it into Ziggy and get Sam on his way and onto the next leap.

"No."

"No?" Al looked disappointed and frowned openly. "Why not?"

"Bakura will tell him what he needs to know." Ryou shrugged and plopped down to sit on the ground. "You act like I know more about it. He only talks to me when he wants something." Ryou paused and let out a soft 'heh'. "Or if he's bored."

"You're a weird kid, you know that?" Al tilted his head and squatted down to eye level. "Most would have asked who I was and where they were before they jumped to the death stuff by now."

Ryou smiled and lifted his eyebrows above his head. So the guy was going for humor, huh? "I don't really care who you are or where I am." He tilted his head in a smile. "I just want to know what happened to the angry man who's usually yelling in the back of my head."

"And you miss that?"

"No, I just got used to it being there and now that it's gone I'm going to have to break it all in over again." Ryou kept smiling knowing full well that it was unnerving. _Maybe Bakura's rubbing off on me more than I'd like..._

"You are a really weird kid." Al shrugged and stood back up with a stretch. Kid couldn't stay quiet forever. He'd talk soon enough. "At least you're optimistic, right?"

"Sure. But it's much too quiet." Ryou yawned and stretched his arms as far over his head as they'd go before plopping down on the ground. "Maybe I'll just sleep it off and this'll all be a dream when I wake up."

Al left the room shaking his head as he left Ryou shut his eyes. Maybe he'd go to check up on Sam.

* * *

 Al found Sam asleep on the couch. "Wake up sleeping beauty."

Sam rolled over and cracked an eye open at the intrusion. He waved a sleepy hand in his direction and pushed himself up into an upright position. "Hello again, Al."

"How's life with the dead guy?"

"Interesting. He knows everything about this Ryou kid, so he's been filling me in on the 'dos and don'ts' of Ryou Bakura." Sam stretched a bit before standing up and heading towards the kitchen. It was about time he figured out what Ryou had in his fridge to eat. "He's asleep right now."

"Good, maybe we can check out the kid without his help for a little bit." Al took a step around the apartment and once again cursed his hologram nature. He really wanted to do the white glove dust test on the desk. Ryou might actually pass it. "Kid's a neat freak."

"Speaking of the kid, talk to him yet?" Sam opened the fridge and frowned at the limited contents. Maybe Ryou ate out a lot or something.

"Yeah, the kid's kinda' weird if you ask me." Al paused and smirked. "He assumed he might be dead because he couldn't hear that voice of yours."

"That's quite a conclusion." Sam tried to picture this kid waking up without a voice in his head. Had to be quite the shock if Bakura talks as much to him as he does with Sam. A sudden silence; must be lonely, actually.

"More like, something about Bakura always finding him anyway." Al nodded in Sam's direction. "Kid made him seem like a parasite in the few words he actually gave us. He did look pretty freaked that the ring was missing."

"That so." Sam's eye caught the castle piece that had his attention when he fell asleep after turning away from the fridge. A good distraction and a few quick steps later and he was in what looked like a small game room covered in figurines and books. "Looks like he likes games."

"This is a big apartment for one kid. It's got two rooms." Al commented as he took a second look around. "Somebody's got money."

"These are all hand painted and so detailed. He must have made this himself." Sam motioned to the huge display game board and ignoring Al for the moment. "Looks like fun."

"The little figures are cute." Al looked at each of the little lead figurines lined up on the wall. "Dusty though, guess he hasn't played in a while."

_It was his favorite game._

Sam jumped and grabbed his chest. He took a calming breath as he remembered that Bakura was inside of his head and still there. "I'm never going to get used to that."

Bakura laughed. _Neither does my host I love watching him jump._

Al nearly laughed himself at Sam's reaction; looked like someone had electrocuted him. "Your new buddy awake, Sam?"

"Yeah, he says this is Ryou's favorite game."

"What's it called?"

 _Bakura, what's the game called?_ Sam picked up the hint that playing parrot for these two to hear each other would get annoying and quick for all parties involved.

 _Monster World._ Bakura looked at the game and the tower and subconsciously rubbed his hand. _It's a role-playing game, you try and defeat Zork with a team of enchanted warriors. Last time he played it I trapped his friends in the lead figurines and tried to kill them as I made them to play the game in a warped reality._

Sam's eyes widened at the almost bored reply to the question. How could someone admit that so calmly?

 _Because I don't feel guilty about it._ Bakura smirked. _Landlord and his friends won the game anyway or you wouldn't be here 'cause they'd be dead. Hmph. All because my little host sacrificed himself. That was some time ago._ Bakura leaned his head back and breathed deep. _And I still think I should have won._

"It doesn't look like he's played since." Sam brushed a finger on the board. This room had distinctly less care than the rest of the spotless apartment. "It's all covered in dust."

Bakura twitched and ran his hands through a few of the dark clouds covering his soul room. _He hasn't. He did say that he wanted to play with all of his friends again, but I think he's scared I'll try something again._

 _That's a shame._ Sam looked over the game board. Even under all the dust, Sam could tell it was made with care and great affection. _It's horrible not doing the things you love._

_He even made a dumb diorama of all of his friends in a victory pose out of the lead figurines to help them decide to play again together._

Sam's eyes lit up as a light bulb went off in his head. "Hey, Al. What's the percent that what we have to do is play this game with all of his friends?"

"What would that have to do with anything?" Al was confused. As far as he knew Sam had been staring out into space for the past few minutes. They'd have to do something about this lack of communication thing if they wanted to get anywhere during this assignment.

"Oh right! You can't hear Bakura! Drat. Well, long story short Ryou said he wanted to play with them all again but they're scared of it because of Bakura." Sam pat the game board. "I'd be willing to bet that getting him together again with all his friends and the game he loves so much is the assignment!"

"What did Bakura do?" Al pulled out his cigar and lit it up.

"He tried to kill them all by trapping them into lead figurines and made them play the game from the view of the characters."

_It was the ultimate role-playing experience. I thought I was being nice letting them live in Monster World, but no. They had to be difficult so I decided they had to die and…_

Sam chose to block out the rest of Bakura's rant. He got enough of it to know where it was going and so he turned his attention back to Al who had finally pulled out Ziggy.

"I get what you're saying, maybe if you play the game with them and it's fun they won't be scared to play more often!" Al punched it into Ziggy. "Then maybe the kid could gain some decent social skills."

"Well?" Sam looked hopeful. Maybe this was what they needed to get Ryou's life back on track.

"85 percent chance that's it!" Al smiled and pat Ziggy with his hand. He liked those odds even if there was a fifteen percent chance it was something else. "That's a pretty good figure."

"Looks we've got a plan, right?" Sam smiled and crossed his arms with a nod. Things would really get rolling now that they had a plan. "Getting people to play a game shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Bakura just laughed.


	4. Part 3. The Friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, thanks so much for reading this far! It makes me very happy to know that people are still interested. I also want to say thank-you for the reviewers for taking the extra time to write. As far as the story is going, I've decided to place it before the Memory World, and after Battle City. (Manga world, so no Doom Saga. Sorry guys! Not that it matters; Bakura wasn't even in the Doom Saga…). Since it's after Battle City, having Malik show up is an option. Whether or not he shows up will have no major effect on the plot so it's up to you, the readers to decide. If you choose to review it'd be helpful if you mention if you'd like to see Malik or not. Thanks so much! Enjoy Part 3!
> 
> To answer [Redacted]: there is no mention ANYWHERE of Ryou's family being dead. He writes a letter to his sister asking how his parents are – that's a key they're living. It's fairly normal for a student in Japan to live far away from the high school of their choice – so it's normal for them to get a temporary home closer to school. I'm pretty sure that's what Ryou's doing. Therefore, in this fic his family is alive. Thanks again!
> 
> Edit: 6/27/07: Fixed and added a bit more in this chapter. Jeesh, some of that was just bad. Ah well, at least it's a bit better now. Another five or so chapters to go!

"So, you're saying that his friends aren't going to just come play if I ask them to?" Sam was packing his things for the long school day ahead and shoved notebook after another into the small briefcase-like bag. He hated being a teenager again. Was it too much to ask to be someone in his forties for once? "That makes things more difficult, doesn't it?"

 _Would you stop talking aloud!_ Bakura screeched.

"To quote, 'you get used to it.'" Sam smiled and picked up his school case and checked himself in a mirror to make sure everything looked presentable. Last thing he needed was to tarnish Ryou's neat-freak reputation.

_I hate you._

"That's nice."

_People are going to look at you funny for talking to yourself._

"They think Ryou's weird anyway, right?" Sam whistled a bit and threw his case over his shoulder as he walked out the door and locked it. He was down the stairs and heading towards the school before he started again. The walk was pleasant all things considered. "Now, run that by me again?"

 _The Pharaoh and his crew aren't going to play that game with you unless they know 100 percent for sure that my host is the one playing with them._ Bakura licked his lips and smirked while lazing about. _I bet you anything they think the invitation is one of my plots to destroy them all._

"Just how many times have you tried to kill them, again?"

_Counting the ones they didn't know about?_

"Yeah, we'll include those."

 _About, three to date. The figurines at Monster World, stealing some things at Duelist Kingdom, and of course fighting the Pharaoh at Battle City for his puzzle._ Bakura smiled at his accomplishments. They were all failures, but he did have a record running. _Granted, I don't think they realize what I did in Duelist Kingdom. Come to think of it, I only tried to kill them all with their knowledge about it once. The rest was just thieving plots…_

"Do I want to know what you did exactly in all three of these events?" Sam interrupted him before checking his watch to see if he was late. It seemed like he still had plenty of time to get there, but this whole walking to school thing was foreign to him. It wouldn't be so bad, but talking to Bakura made him lose track of time slightly.

 _Not really._ Bakura took a quick look to see where they were. He was surprised Sam remembered where they were going only having taken this path once before. It annoyed him that Sam was so capable of taking care of himself. Well he was much older than the ones Bakura was used to dealing with. _And it's not nice to interrupt._

"So, how _will_ I convince them it's just for fun?" Sam stopped walking once he got to the corner right before that last block to school. He had one more thing to confirm before he started making any big plans. "And how _do_ I know that you're not going to do anything?"

Bakura gave him a mental smack to the back of the head. That was a stupid question; it should be an obvious answer. _I don't want you here! If that means playing nice with the kiddies, than so be it._

"I'm glad you're so motivated." Sam rubbed the back of his head and wished that he could think of some way to block that. It was funny when he did it to Bakura, but that damn spirit sure as hell didn't pull his punches. "That hurt." He lowered his voice when he saw one lady stare at him funny. "So what would you suggest?"

_Hang out a bit with them. Anzu's yet to include you into a friendship rant, so I think you've got a way to go. Maybe after you've been acknowledged they'll go somewhere with you again._

"Is that all?"

 _I doubt it, but it's about all you can do aside from holding up a sign and physically dragging them to your house. Which could be more fun, actually. Heh._ Bakura fell onto his back with his arms behind his head and smile. He'd love to see the Pharaoh's face if little landlord dragged him somewhere. _You might want to find someone else to play the game master at the very least. Never in a million years is the Pharaoh going to let us do it._

"Could we just let Yugi be game master?" Sam started to walk again after the conversation started with a more regular flow. "Seems like something he'd enjoy."

 _Hell no!_ Bakura sat up and growled while slamming his hands into the ground. _Not a chance is that bastard playing the game master!_

Sam held his head and stopped again at the sudden outburst. It was like a sledgehammer had smacked him in the head. Maybe his mission was to do something about Bakura's temper. "Fine, we'll find someone else."

_Good._

"Who knows, maybe one of the other friends is suited for the part."

 _Doubtful, we'll need someone who can make it a challenge and knows how to play a role playing game._ Bakura snickered to himself. _That means someone with a brain._

"That's not very nice."

 _Do I sound very nice to you?_ Bakura started laughing and gave his own leg a slap. _I think you would have figured out by now I'm not a very nice person._

"No wonder Ryou's such a mess if he has to live with you all the time."

_You missed your turn._

"Oh!" Sam quickly backtracked a few paces and looked for the entrance to the school. He slowed down to a walk and stopped. "I don't see the school."

He could hear Bakura snickering away in amusement. _You passed it a block back._

"I really hate you." Sam let out a breath and turned back around to the school gates. "It's people like you that make my life so difficult."

 _How so?_ Bakura checked his nails and flicked a bit of dirt out from underneath them. He wondered what Sam was going to start ranting about now.

"Because nine times out of ten I'm solving a problem some jerk started or is going to cause." Sam smiled when he made it through the gates and checked his watch. Plenty of time to get to class and to get the day started off right.

 _But it's us jerks who make you look good when you solve that problem, isn't that right?_ Bakura sat up again. _Without us, you're nothing special. Boring._

"Who needs to look good when they're already happy?" Sam would have given anything to leap home and be with his wife. That's all he really wanted. "People could have a better chance to be happy without others like you causing chaos."

Bakura didn't answer for a few moments and the silence lingered like an empty echo. _There are very few people who are happy. Jerks or no jerks in the world, there will be people who suffer._

"That's no excuse to make people miserable." Sam saw the gates of the school in the distance. He picked up his pace slightly and made note of Bakura's sober tone and wording.

 _Just making sure everyone gets their fair share of torment._ Bakura smiled sadly before plastering his trademark smirk. _And it's a hell of a lot of fun to make them share in the misery. Fun to watch people bleed, too._

Sam smiled softly himself. It seemed Bakura had seen his fair share of sadness in the world, so maybe Sam could cut him some slack. Just not too much. "If you say so, but if I recall it's still going to be me who looks good in the end. After all, I am the good guy."

_Bastard._

* * *

Ryou hated being alone.

"Do you know when I get to leave?" He asked to no one in particular because there was no one in the room to ask. When he received no reply yet again he sank down to the floor and crossed his arms on his knees. He knew people were watching him, it should be only fair they answer him when he asked them things. Maybe this was revenge for Ryou giving them the cold shoulder when he first arrived.

Ryou didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to miss the tomb robber. Sure, he was mean and tried to kill people on occasion, but he was always around. For better or for worse he was a constant source of company, always had something to say and he made sure Ryou heard what it was. It was probably that constant attention that kept Ryou from ratting him out to Yugi and Yami when the spirit came back. He didn't seem to be up to anything lately to report, and besides, even if Yami banished him again he'd still come back. He always did; why bother?

Ryou hoped that he could go home soon. He needed to write his parents and sister about how he was doing. They may have left him all alone, but he knew they still worried about him. It wasn't their fault he had to switch to a school farther away. Ryou smiled at the thoughts of getting a letter back from his sister and mother. It was always fun to see what they were up to, but sometimes he wished he could talk to them about Bakura. Sometimes he just didn't know what to do with the thief and advice outside of his group of friends would have been appreciated. At least then the advice wouldn't be from someone with a biased hatred of the man.

Ryou was shaken from his thoughts by that weird man coming into the room again. He seemed to look pretty happy for some reason. "Hello again, Al."

"Hey kid." Al squatted in front of Ryou and tried to put on his most comforting grin. "Care to tell me anything new, today?"

"Not really." Ryou stared at him with doubt. It wasn't hard to tell that this 'hey buddy!' thing was just an act to get to know him better. Ryou was fifteen not five. "I don't know you, now do I?"

Al rubbed his temple and groaned slightly. "Listen, Ryou. The more you tell me the faster I can get you out of here."

Ryou chuckled and turned his head off to the side. "Of course."

"So you'll help us out?"

"As much as I want to go home, I don't trust you." Ryou tilted his head and stared at what he thought might be a dot on the perfectly white walls that surrounded him. "So, no."

Al wanted to bang his head into the wall. He wasn't sure how much more of this brat he was going to be able to take. "At least you don't think you're dead anymore."

Ryou couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

Yugi yawned loudly as he waited for class to begin. Jonouchi was playing Duel Monsters with some random challenger (Takeshi?) in the class and winning. Yugi smiled when he heard Yami ranting about strategies he wished Jonouchi would use so that he could win faster. _Calm down, Yami. Jonouchi's going to win, so relax._

Yami pouted and mentally pointed at the two playing. _But figuring out how to win games is what I'm good at! And I'm bored!_

 _But it's Jonouchi's game, Yami._ Yugi smiled before looking around the classroom to see if any of their other friends had arrived to class yet. He saw a familiar mop of white hair and leaned back in his seat. _Oh, look! Bakura's here._ "Hi Bakura!"

Sam looked up after hearing Ryou's name to see Yugi waving at him happily. Sam couldn't help but smile brightly. That happy puppy look was contagious; he was definitely a good friend for Ryou. "Good Morning, Yugi."

"Did you get everything done you needed to last night?" Yugi continued talking while his eyes wandered back to Jonouchi's duel. Yami was still talking in his head, but that was okay. He couldn't blame him for being bored stuck in his head during school all day. "You left in quite a rush yesterday."

"Yeah, I did." Sam followed Yugi's eyes to watch Jonouchi suddenly jump up and give a victorious shout. He couldn't help but chuckle at the blonde's enthusiasm. "Got everything sorted out."

"Good to hear." Yugi stood up from his seat to pat his friend on the back. Yugi was internally grateful that the days of him helping Jonouchi to win his duels were over and he could stand on his own two feet. "Great job Jonouchi!"

"Twas' nothing." Jonouchi raised his hands in a shrug but had a hard time covering up the bits of pride that were leaking through the casual demeanor. "But it was tough there at the end. Good match, Takeshi."

"Yeah." Takeshi took up his cards and headed back to his seat with a friendly nod. "See you later!"

Jonouchi turned to the new man at the table and grinned with a wave. "Mornin' Bakura."

"Good morning to you, too." Sam set his things down at his desk briefly after his reply and walked back over to the others. He looked down at the cards scattered over the desk and Yugi and Jonouchi chatting and took the moment to ask a question that had turned on his curiosity. _Bakura, what game was he playing?_

Bakura smacked his head and groaned. This was not happening; he didn't have time to explain these things to a new comer. Talking about his landlord was bad enough! _Duel Monsters. Based on an old Egyptian shadow game, don't ask I'll explain shadow games later, that Pegasus made into a modern card game._

Sam definitely made note to ask about 'Shadow Games' later. There was no way on this green earth that wasn't important. _I take it than that it's a pretty popular fad._

 _Pharaoh and his groupies practically breathe those cards_. _I only learned how to play to challenge him in duels. It's a shame that Pharaoh's the Game King and not just the Duel Monster King._

Sam kept his eyes on his two friends to make sure that he was still in the clear to talk to Bakura. _Why is that?_

 _Because then I could beat him at something!_ Bakura growled and clenched his fists. _He never loses at friggin' anything!_

"Bakura?" Sam looked down to see Yugi staring at him. Drat, he thought he was learning to control this mind talk thing better. "You spaced out. Again."

"Sorry, Yugi." Sam put a hand behind his head and tried to create a nervous chuckle. "Just a lot on my mind lately."

Sam watched Yugi blink and was stunned when the eyes narrowed. When Yugi replied his voice was much more controlled and had a different edge to it. It was almost commanding if Sam had to call it something. "Does it have anything to do with the tomb robber?"

 _What happened to Yugi!?_ Sam tried to add urgency into his voice so he could reply to Yugi faster. He needed Bakura's help, as much as he hated to admit it because he wasn't quite sure what had just happened.

 _The Pharaoh took over, you're talking to Yami now._ Bakura tried to hold himself back from attacking the Pharaoh out of spite.

 _Should I tell him yes?_ Sam was becoming unnerved by the staring as Yugi, well Yami's eyebrow raised as he waited for a reply.

"Well, Bakura?" Yami sighed and tried to smile. He was aware at some level that he made Ryou nervous, not that he blamed the shy boy, but he had hoped that they were just a tad closer after all the chaos. "We're your friends you know. You can tell us if he's back and bothering you."

"Of course."

"Unless, you're Bakura now pretending to be our friend." Yami straightened his back to assert more authority; even if it wasn't warranted. Habits were such had things to break. "Sorry to be mistrustful, but it wouldn't be the first time, Bakura."

 _Why that bastard!_ Bakura was fuming up a storm. There was probably more smoke coming from him than all the shadows. _You tell him that you're just peachy!_

' _Peachy' isn't a word I ever thought I'd hear you use._ Sam smiled.

 _Shut up. Just tell the bastard you're fine and it's got nothing to do with me._ Bakura calmed himself with a deep breath. It was all for his landlord; just keep thinking that. _If he knows I'm back he'll never do anything with you without being suspicious._

"Don't worry about it, Yami." Sam smiled and tried to laugh. "And don't be absurd, the tomb robber isn't in control. I'm just busy with everything, a little more tired than usual."

"Are you sure?" Yami raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. Something was off about Ryou; it was in his eyes. However, the spirit didn't quite have enough evidence to convict him of anything just yet. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were at the least talking with Bakura in your head the way you've been acting."

"I'm sure." Sam nodded and held up his hands in front of his chest. "Things are fine, and there's nothing wrong."

"Alright." Yami smiled and blinked to reveal the puppy eyes again. The transition was so quick that Sam could have sworn he almost missed it. "Sorry, Bakura. Yami's just concerned about you. That's all!"

"Thanks for that." Sam sat down at his desk and let out a breath when the teacher started to walk into the room. _That was close._

_Too close._

Sam was about to look up for Yugi's response when the class was ushered to their seats by the first teacher of the day. Sam watched Yugi smile at him before taking his seat and pulling out his notes. As soon as his papers were out Yugi started zoning again and Sam nearly laughed. Seems Yami liked to talk as much as Bakura. Following suit, Sam pulled out some paper and a pencil though he chose to actually listen to the teacher instead of entertain a fuming Bakura. A few hours into the school day gave Sam time to ponder this new situation. After thinking about it, he came to a conclusion about Yami.

 _How can we get him to trust Ryou if we lie about you being here?_ Sam questioned Bakura.

Bakura scowled and pursed his lips. _You might have a point. Landlord has been keeping me a secret since Battle City was over._

_With all the trouble you supposedly cause, I have to wonder why he wouldn't tell._

_Beats me._ That was a good question; one that Bakura didn't know the answer to. It had been bothering him in the back of his head, but it was a good enough situation that he didn't question it. Maybe his landlord enjoyed his company, as alien as that sounded anyway. _The fact is, that he did keep it a secret. It's not really important why._

Sam somehow doubted that. He snuck another look at Yugi. _Think we should tell them? Maybe if they know you're here they'll be less on guard?_

_Don't you mean more on guard? They'll be expecting me to do something._

Sam smirked and leaned his head on his arm. The teacher was talking about some algebra equation so he knew he didn't have to pay attention just yet. _No, they'll be expecting you to lie low and surprise them with an attack since you are a thief after all. It'll throw them all for a loop if you're honest and keep yourself out in the open right off the bat. They'd never see it coming, it would be too out of character for you._

Bakura was silent. _That was fairly devious Mr. Good Guy._ He burst out in an amused chuckle. _I rather like it._

Sam smiled and slapped a fist into his palm. "We'll tell them after school, then."

"Tell who what after school, Mr. Bakura?"

Sam blushed a red that would probably have done Ryou justice. "Tell my friends after school about that wonderful point you just made in the notes just now."

The teacher merely glared at him and turned back to the board.

_Told you not to talk out loud._

* * *

Sam had hoped to catch up with Yugi and the others to discuss Bakura and question about Monster World after class, but everyone seemed to have their turn at being busy. Yugi had to help his grandfather at the shop, Jonouchi had chores, Anzu had to work, and Honda had to take his dog for a checkup at the vet. Sam signed as he readied himself for yet another stay at home with Bakura. At least the walk to the apartment was pleasant in this weather.

"How are things going Sam?"

Sam smiled at the latest appearance of Al. "Fairly well, having some troubles with the other spirit possessing Yugi though."

"There's a spirit possessing him too?" Al pressed a button on Ziggy to add in more information. At the rate they were going any little bit helped. Though, even information on another friend being possessed didn't seem to help. "But anyway, how so Sam?"

"He hates Bakura. I was going to tell him Bakura was back in Ryou's head but we haven't had the chance."

"Gotcha." Al smiled at Ziggy's latest beep. He knew programming to scan newspapers and magazines for information was a good idea. "It also seems that luck is on your side. There's going to be a Monster World sale next week at the mall. You could invite Ryou's friends to go look and get them interested."

"That sounds like a great idea, Al!"

 _What's a great idea?_ Bakura blew out a breath. It was still weird listening to Sam (as Landlord) having a one-sided conversation with another person. The kid was going to look even more crazy than he usually did during the day.

 _Sale at the mall, Monster World stuff._ Sam smiled at this stroke of luck. _We can_ s _how his friends how cool the game is and get them to play that way._

_Sounds boring._

"Boring or not it's a great opportunity. I think we should take it!"

"Glad you agree with me Sam." Al licked his teeth. "I take it Bakura thinks it's boring?"

"Yeah. We have to do something about this communication problem between the three of us."

"Tell me about it. It's hard to tell which one of us you're talking to. Well if that's all, I've got to go try again to pry info out of this Ryou kid." Al disappeared through a portal.

_Looks like it's just you and me again, Bakura._

_Joy._

_Oh stop being such a sourpuss._ Sam smiled; it was always a good sign when things fell into place.

 _I'll stop being a sourpuss when I've finally dragged the world into Darkness._ Bakura stuck out his tongue.

_Such a wonderful goal._

_I know._

Sam stopped to look over a small park that was on his way to Ryou's home that was fresh and green. He smiled at the children playing and almost felt even Bakura get a little warm inside. At least he knew Bakura wasn't completely heartless. There was a heart in there somewhere for sure. Sam wondered briefly if warming that heart and cracking it open was more of the task at hand than playing Monster World. Ah, well. Maybe he'd try and get two birds with one stone. He continued his walk.

 _So, going to tell me what a shadow game is, Bakura?_ Sam hummed a little as he passed the park. _You never did explain at school._

Bakura was distant with his reply, seeing the kids playing had made him nostalgic for some reason. _Magic fight using the millennium items to play for a person's soul. Basically any game can be a shadow game, the shadows just prevent you from cheating and the stakes are higher. You win the other person loses their soul or plays a penalty game or whatever else you set up at the start of the game. You lose and it's your soul that pays. The current favorite incarnation of shadow games are taking place in Duel Monster duels._

"That's awful."

_Not as awful as you sounding like my landlord! Now quit it!_

_Does it really bug you that much?_ Sam smiled. _You must like the kid or something to try and remind yourself he's not here. Like you're trying to keep yourself on edge and not relax around me._

Bakura twitched. _Idiot. Like I need to explain myself to you._

"Suit yourself, Bakura." Sam unlocked the door to his temporary home with a click and slid the door open. "But just know, it's no fun being alone. If I were you, I'd get to know Ryou better if I ever got the chance."

 _I know everything I need to know about my host and it's really none of your business._ Bakura bristled and his hair stood more on end than usual. _If we're done, why don't you brush up on Monster World yourself. The rulebooks are in the back room._

 _Fair enough._ Sam went into the kitchen for a quick snack before tackling the game itself. Some good old PB &J would hit the spot. _And what will you be up to?_

 _Sleeping so I don't have to bother with you!_ Bakura glared. _Don't wake me up until you've memorized that handbook._

Sam felt Bakura shut himself off almost immediately after finishing. Sam pulled out some peanut butter and bread and got to work on his sandwich. Deep down, Sam felt sorry for Bakura, it was hard watching someone who tried so hard to not get attached. The first offense he could think of Bakura used involved his 'host.' Bakura make a great effort to never mention Ryou's name, in fact Sam could only think of one time Bakura had used it. This constant use of the word "landlord" and "host" seemed like a way to keep himself detached, from making things personal.

"I think maybe it's Bakura who's in pain." Sam took a bite out of the sandwich before heading to the game room. "He's the lonely one."

Sam laughed suddenly. "And he'd kill me if he ever heard me talking about him that way."

Sam set down the meal on the table and pulled out the Monster World books off the shelf. He found the computer and turned it on to reference the menus and key commands before studying the book. If Ryou was a master at this game, than that mean Sam had to be just as good. After all, the Game King will be expecting a challenge, wouldn't he?


	5. Part 4. The Secret Out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next installment! It's become very difficult to not rush straight to the Monster World scene – I have so many plans for it. Ah, one step at a time and this part has introduced a new player! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Enjoy Part 4!
> 
> Edit 7/19/07: Fleshed it out and added some more character development. :D

Sam was nervous to say the least. He still hadn't quite figured out Ryou Bakura or his brain buddy completely yet and that worried him. He had to spill the beans about Bakura, so to speak, and make himself look like Ryou in the process to keep them from being even more suspicious than necessary. Needless to say: no pressure. He blew out a deep breath and unbuttoned his top collar to prepare for the long day ahead.

_Don't do that. Landlord leaves his outfit buttoned._

It was going to be a very long day indeed. God above he hoped no one got 'banished to the shadow realm' today. "Right."

 _Just making sure you don't blow this._ Bakura couldn't believe he was willingly going to blow his well kept cover. Landlord owed him big time for this. He watched Sam fumble with the top button of their shirt and nearly smacked his head. Oh yes, Landlord owed him some quality body taking over time. Maybe a jewelry heist with his little host well aware of what was going on. That had to be good for a laugh, right? He'd have to make note to do that sometime... Bakura stopped himself before he decided hanging out with his host really was a good idea. His personal issues were soon interrupted by his new _favorite_ voice.

_We're meeting them at the game shop for this, right? Which is where Yugi and Pharaoh live?_

_Yes._ Bakura sighed and considered summoning the Man-Eater bug to chase the mortal around. It'd be worth the strain on the body; Bakura was sure. _For the fifteenth time._

 _Are you really counting?_ Sam could have sworn it was only the sixth time.

_Just get moving out the door before you're late!_

Sam rolled his eyes and pulled the sweater over top of the striped shirt. Bakura needed some calcium in his diet; he was way too easy to get riled up. "I'm moving, I'm moving!"

_Move faster!_

"Stop screeching! You're like a peacock!" Sam smirked to himself. "Only more annoying."

 _Oh, I'm so adding you to my list._ Bakura wrote 'Sam' in big bold letters on a random wall in the shadows four rows down from the top (which of course was: Idiot Pharaoh). _I am so going to find you again when you leap. I can do it you know!_ Bakura held up the ring and shook it at him. It made him feel good even if Sam couldn't see the threat.

"I cower in fear." Sam laughed and grabbed a cookie on his way out of the door. Munching happily he replied with a satisfied grin. He'd learned that Bakura was mostly talk over the past few days so he didn't have much to worry about. "I'd like to see you travel through time."

_I really wish I could strangle you._

"Yeah, sure. Let's just get this over with." Sam found himself laughing to himself as he pictured Bakura's pouting frown.

 _What made you so happy all of a sudden?_ Bakura quirked an eyebrow as the man practically skipped out the door. _That cookie's not spiked is it?_

 _Don't be absurd. Fighting with you got rid of all my worries._ Sam skipped a step or two on the stairs. _How bad could the Pharaoh be after a good argument with you?_

 _Why you!_ _I am not your stress toy!_

Sam laughed aloud as he headed out the door of the apartment complex. Yes, Sam very much doubted that the Pharaoh could be any worse than his own brooding spirit. "Yugi's house is that way, right?"

 _Yes._ Bakura huffed like an old biddy. He didn't have the energy to keep up that level of anger. _Straight down the road and take a left on fifth._

"Thank-you!"

_I can't believe we're doing this._

"All for Ryou's future, right?" Sam evened his pace out a bit, he still had time to get to the shop. There was no need to run there; besides things would look odd if he was out of breath and sweating when he arrived.

_Just curious, but what happens to Ryou that you have to fix this 'something' anyway?_

Sam paused everything briefly when he heard Bakura use Ryou's name. That was a first and it warmed Sam just a tad; it meant that Bakura was worried. When he started walking again his smile was sad. "I don't really know. Al hasn't told me quite yet, and we're not sure if this is even it."

 _So you don't know._ Bakura stared at the ground.

"No. Usually when I know what I have to fix I also know why, but like I said, here we're not even sure if this is it." Sam watched the people go by him on the street minding their own business. "And even then it's usually something like 'If I don't fix this, than this will happen" sort of scenarios."

 _Ah, but what's important is it's certain something bad will happen to my host if we don't solve the problem?_ Bakura ran a hand through his hair and caught it in a knot. He tugged to pull it out and stared at the hair that came with his hand. _Whatever it is?_

"That's usually how it works." Sam turned down the street and ran his hand along a fence post. "It's almost always a change for the better."

_Then maybe, it'll be worth it._

Sam's smile widened a tad at Bakura's reply. "At the very least it'll be worth it to see the Pharaoh's face when we tell him you're back, right?"

 _Hell yeah! I bet he wets himself!_ Bakura started cackling madly.

Sam couldn't hold the grin back himself either.

* * *

 At this point, Ryou was just downright bored. He would have counted tiles, but there were none. He would have played a game, but he had no paper or pencils or anything. This damn room was seamless and boring and just plain old white. His outfit was white. Hell, he practically blended into the wall with his white hair! Ryou giggled. "Maybe if I close my eyes and stop moving they'll think I've escaped."

"Not likely."

Ryou groaned when he heard Al's response. The man was becoming detestable and did nothing to add to the atmosphere. Save for maybe a splash of mismatched color with those tacky vests. Ryou felt his teeth with his tongue. He wished he had his toothbrush. "Back again?"

"Yes," Al leaned against a wall. At least Ryou thought it was a wall, it was sort of hard to tell. "Just to make an appearance, unless you feel like sharing with us today?"

"Nope." Ryou grinned at him. "It's starting to be fun just to annoy you."

"So I've noticed." Al grinned to himself before sticking his tongue in his cheek. "Bakura must get that from you, then."

Ryou glared at him.

"Or the other way around," Al shrugged it off. Children were hardly threatening. "But whatever the case, got any tips for Sam for playing Monster World?"

Ryou's glare dropped and was quickly replaced by a wary glance. What did his favorite game have to do with anything? He hadn't played that in years. "Why?"

"Because he's going to be playing Yugi and your friends. You're really good at this game, so it's natural you'd win, right?" Al leaned foreword when it was obvious the kid was paying more attention. Maybe the ego was the key. Hey, it's worked before!

Ryou stuck his tongue out. He was pretty sure that Al was merely fishing for information. There's no way that he'd actually be playing that game with his friends. "If he's such a genius then he can figure it out. Besides, didn't you say he's playing Yugi? That means Yugi will win."

"Are you sure? Sam's pretty good." Al pulled out a cigar and stuck it in his mouth. He'd light it after he was done in this room. "Give him a few tips and I'm sure he'll dominate just like he does in chess."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Yugi won that game on his first time playing against a man who basically cheated. Sam doesn't stand a bloody chance playing against Yugi now that he understands the game."

"Aren't you supposed to be nice?"

"How many people do you know are nice after spending almost a week locked in a white room with only one person to talk to?"

"Touché."

* * *

 "He's what!?" The shout of all four of Ryou's friends rang loud through Sam's ears and he had to wince at the force. Jonouchi dropped the bowl of pretzels he had just fixed. Anzu stood up from the shock and gaped. Honda fell into a seat while Yugi did the opposite and sprung to his feet next to Anzu. Bakura, well Sam was pretty sure he was laughing his head off over the entire thing.

"Just like I said." Sam breathed slowly as they all stared at him. They were taking it fairly well for shock; he had been expecting more yelling and masses of questions aimed at him. "Bakura's been back for a while and he's not causing any trouble."

"Why didn't you tell us earlier, Bakura?" Yami had abruptly taken over Yugi and was very confused. Yugi was complaining about the fast switch, but Yami needed to hear this for himself.

Jonouchi, Honda and Anzu were still silenced from the shock. The fact the thief was back they could believe. He came back all the time, even after throwing his ring in the woods! But Ryou knowing about it and not telling them was something they were having a hard time coming to terms with. They were all friends and friends didn't keep such big secrets from each other. Especially when they involved such dangerous secrets! Who knows what the thief had been up to?

"You asked if he was back and causing me trouble." Sam tried to smile like a dork and look embarrassed. Bakura was still laughing and thus unable to help him get the part of Ryou just right. "And he's not. He's just back."

Yami blinked. There was something off about Bakura; and for some reason Yami didn't think it was the thief taking over. Call it a gut instinct. "Are you sure, Bakura?" Yami set a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "It would be like the thief to try and trick you."

Sam was about to respond when he felt a heavy tug on his heart. Before he knew it, he was watching his, Ryou's, hand smacking away Yami's hand. It was weird; he was back in the room where he talked to Bakura in their head, only this time he could see what was going on outside the body. It was rather surreal, though Sam didn't have time to appreciate the new scenery. _What's going on!?_

 _I took over the body._ Bakura smirked inwardly and outwardly as the Pharaoh's eyes narrowed and Sam lay about confused. _It's your turn on the sidelines._

 _What!_ Sam shouted and cursed the fact it was just about all he could do. There had to be someway for him to switch with Bakura. If he could only figure out how the other man had done it in the first place.

"Watch what you say, Pharaoh." Sam heard Bakura's voice ring out around him.

"Tomb Robber!" Yami was stern with his reply. He should have known better than to believe Bakura was doing this of his own free will. "So you are up to something."

"Don't you wish I was?" Bakura unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. Landlord could wear his shirts buttoned if he wanted. Bakura on the other hand, enjoyed breathing. "But alas, my little host is right. I'm taking a break and would rather not be under suspicion for a bit."

"Why should we believe you!" Jonouchi shouted after coming to his senses.

"Because," Bakura paused and tried desperately not to strike out at them. He was there for a truce; he needed to control himself. "I owe my host a little time to himself."

"You expect us to believe you're going to behave just to repay a debt?" Yami crossed his arms. Yugi had taken spirit form beside him to get in on the action and he was frowning as well. _Don't worry, Partner. I'm sure Bakura's fine._

Yugi nodded at the Pharaoh. He wanted to believe that the Tomb Robber was telling the truth and that Yami could behave himself as well. _I hope so._

"I don't expect you to," Bakura smirked. The Pharaoh could believe anything he damn well wanted. "But what choice to you have? Can you punish me for not doing anything?"

"But you will." Honda pointed a finger. He really hated it when Bakura's alter ego came out. It was freaky watching the kind boy's face so distorted and, well, evil. "Precautionary measures!"

"I've been punished for every offense so far and therefore have paid my time" Bakura smirked and leaned into Honda's face. The boy backed up and gulped; good. "What happened to precautionary measures when we had such fun running around Pegasus' castle? I wasn't even pretending to be Ryou during all of that."

"That was different! We thought you were gone and that it was Ryou!"

"Exactly." Bakura flicked him in the head before turning to Yami. It was about time to get to the meat of the matter anyway. Bakura would never admit that this was a topic he'd been wanting to rant about for some time. "You idiots can't tell when I'm pretending to be Ryou or standing right in front of you. Face it, you can't tell us apart even when you're trying. What difference does it really make? The point of the matter is if I'm going to do something you'll know when I do it."

"You may have a point, thief." Yami was concerned. The thief did have a rather humbling point; they really couldn't tell the difference between the Tomb Robber's acting and their friend Ryou. He hadn't thought of it before, but that must be rather horrible for Bakura. _What do you think, Yugi?_

 _I think he's right. He'd be there anyway, so us knowing he's there isn't going to make a difference._ Yugi thought for a little bit and squinted his eyebrows. He had picked up on some of Yami's worries and he agreed. This could possibly be good for everyone. _But it does make you wonder why he's telling us._

"Why are you telling us?" Yami voiced Yugi's opinion out loud in response. He too was rather curious.

"I told you. I owe my host one, and this is it." Bakura put a hand on his hip. He was about ready for this fiasco to be done with. "He wants you to go to the mall with him without worrying about anything."

"The mall?" Anzu spoke up for the first time. She had been listening to the entire conversation, but it still made her uneasy. "What does he want to do at the mall?"

"Go shopping, maybe?" Bakura took a seat in the chair behind and made himself comfy. He wasn't going to let them get him down and The Pharaoh's twerp had a nice couch. "What else?"

Anzu huffed and pointed a finger at him. "I don't believe you. Why should we really trust you? You should have let Bakura ask."

"Why do you care?" Bakura raised an eyebrow at the girl and pointed a finger right back at her. "You've yet to include him in a single speech about friendship. I've counted. You're such a good friend to everyone but my little host."

"That's not true! Ryou's my friend!" Anzu sat down with a frown. That couldn't be true; she didn't exclude Bakura.

"I think you're jealous." Bakura smiled. _If you can't attack the Pharaoh, attack his chick._

 _You're not helping!_ Sam was screaming. Bakura was ruining everything and he still could do nothing but watch. _We want them to_ like _us!_

 _Fine, fine._ Bakura smiled. "Okay, maybe that's a bit far." He finished with a shrug. "After all, you talk to him as much as the others do." Bakura closed his eyes and leaned his head on his knuckles. "If that says anything in itself."

Anzu didn't say any more on the subject due to Yami holding a hand on her shoulder. The thief, sad as it was, had a point. Though, he'd be damned if he was letting the thief know that. "If we're to believe what you're saying, than why not let Bakura confirm it for us?"

"How about instead, we prove if you trust us, at least temporarily instead?" Bakura stood and picked up a piece of candy off the coffee table. The Pharaoh frowned at the piece he took and Bakura considered it a good day. He popped the treat inside of his mouth. "Meet us at the mall tomorrow in front of the hobby store."

"The hobby store?" Jonouchi questioned with a matching confusing look.

"Yup. Monster World sale." Bakura sent them a deceptively friendly smile and walked out the door.

Sam stared as the body he was no longer controlling headed down the street without even waiting for a response. _What was that!?_

 _If they really are Ryou's friends, they'll be there._ Bakura whistled, it had been some time since he was in control of things. Maybe he should have a little fun while he was here. He hadn't tried robbing a department store in a while.

 _I hope you know what you're doing._ Sam set his head on his hand and moaned. So much for things going smoothly. _And if it doesn't work?_

Bakura pondered this; he hadn't considered that his masterful plans would fail. _Then we try something else? Begging could work, the Pharaoh has one hell of an ego. Matches mine almost._

Sam tried to ignore the snickering and was about to reply when he noticed Bakura stop dead in his tracks. He looked outside, but all he could see was a coffee shop full of customers. _What's the matter, Bakura?_

"Couldn't be." Bakura mumbled to himself. It was clear Sam was far from his thoughts, ironically enough.

 _Couldn't be what!?_ Sam tried to get through but he was definitely being ignored. The thief started moving again and the older man did his best to stay calm.

Bakura made his way across the street and approached the tan, blonde, violet eyed Egyptian that had caused him much chaos in Battle City. The boy was sitting outside of a small coffee shop at a table. Bakura lifted one of his eyebrows and addressed the other boy. "Malik? Is that you?"

Malik who had been leaning back on two legs of his chair, with his own legs sprawled out, fell back onto the ground from the surprise. He, of course, cursed on his way down to the pavement. "Shit!"

Bakura laughed and had to hold his gut watching the Egyptian sprawled on the ground with his jewelry clacking and clinking. "So very graceful."

"Bakura!?" Malik climbed up from the ground and rubbed his back. He hadn't even gotten his coffee yet and he was being forced into such activities. He'd pay the thief back ten-fold for this injury; after he figured out what he wanted. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here." Bakura smacked him on the head and grinned when he pouted. The boy was spoiled, but when they weren't trying to kill each other he could prove to be amusing. "What's my could-possibly-be-labeled-as-a-friend-if-I-had-them-who-should-be-in-Egypt Malik doing here?"

"That was a mouthful, you could have just said accomplice." Malik sat down on his chair after setting it right side up. He had to admit he missed fighting with the thief. Arguing was what they were good at, too much ego in the room to allow for anything less.

"You still didn't answer the mouthful." Bakura tried to ignore the screaming Sam. The man was getting the hang of sending mental punches and Bakura was not amused.

 _Catch up later!_ Sam tried shouting. It didn't work. _Who is he anyway?_

 _Old friend. That's all you're getting._ Bakura waited for Malik's response before adding a conditional. _My friend, Ryou barely knows him._

"Battle City ended like, what? Two weeks ago? I can't hang around and explore?" Malik stood up to lean against the table so he was eye to eye with the thief, almost. "I lived underground for ages. I wanna' see the sun!"

"At least you've upgraded to seeing the sun instead of being the sun." Bakura laughed at his own joke; he was a riot. He mentally bombarded Sam until the man gave out a chuckle and agreed with him.

 _Bastard._ Sam didn't normally resort to cursing, but he also didn't normally get a mental pounding in such a literal sense either.

Bakura, however, then howled in pain as Malik kicked him in the shin. The young tomb keeper smirked when the thief quickly adjusted himself and set his face back into the familiar scowl as if nothing had happened. "So, what is my favorite thief up to anyway?"

"Going to the mall tomorrow with Pharaoh and his lackeys."

Malik just blinked. Any other reaction was severely limited by the pure shock of that statement.

"I owe Ryou a favor." Bakura rolled his eyes at Sam's witty comment. (It shouldn't be repeated in kind company.)

"Oh, what type of favor?"

"Get all his friends to play Monster World with him again." Bakura pulled at his collar and considered just unbuttoning the whole thing. Too bad he had that damn sweater on to keep him from doing so. "They haven't played since I, well you don't need details."

"Gotcha, shadow game." Malik sighed and plopped back down in his chair. "I miss my rod."

Bakura flinched. That still sounded wrong. "That's nice. You want to play, too?"

"Why?"

"I don't want to feel outnumbered."

 _What do you mean feel?_ Sam commented. _You are outnumbered._

_Shut the hell up!_

"Who are you talking to? The other Bakura?" Malik was starting to feel like he was forgetting something.

"Yeah, he forgot what it's like to have a roommate." Bakura pointed to his temple. "And just call him Ryou to save confusion. I just about lost it talking to the idiots earlier when they kept calling him 'Bakura'"

"Oh!" Malik suddenly remembered something important and cut off Bakura's ramblings. "He forgives us about the whole stabbing thing, right?"

_Stabbing?_

Sam didn't get an answer and probably never would get one. "Doesn't matter." Bakura put his hands on his waist. He wasn't actually sure himself if his Landlord even remembered that. "You want to come or not?"

"Sure, why not." Malik stood up and pushed in his chair. It's not like he had anything better to do and Isis did say that he needed some more friends. "But in the mean time, want to go to the new club I saw down the street?"

"Sure." Bakura shrugged indifferently. He needed to get out and ignore the voice in his head that was pretending to be a conscience. Like he had one. "But first, I'm changing clothes. This sweater so screams lame and we need to pass for twenty year olds."

"Of course." Malik smiled and leaned towards the thief. He plucked at the sweater and let it fall back against his friend's skin. "I could help pick something out."

"No way in hell."

 _I second that._ Sam raised his hand like a school child. He didn't know Malik very well, but he could see that his navel was exposed. Sam was not subjecting Ryou's body to a belly shirt.

_Finally we agree._

Bakura opened the gate to the little outside eating area for Malik. They were out and down the street for a fun shopping trip before you could blink. Or nag Bakura to death as Sam was doing at the moment. This was so irresponsible and they had no business going clubbing with Ryou's body!

About ten minutes later, Rishid emerged from the coffee shop with two smoking drinks. He looked at the now vacant table where he was sure he had left his step-brother. "Master Malik?"


	6. Part 5. The Mall, Take One.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally made it to the mall! Things are going well so far, and the stage is set to introduce the last of the characters. (Well, save for one surprise guest to appear during the Monster World game. I promised I'd include him so you'll have to wait and see who it is!) I hope you all enjoy part one of the mall! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing if you feel so inclined!
> 
> Edit 7/19/07: The same. Fleshed and fixed typos and the like.

"How the hell did I get the hangover?" Sam mumbled out as he stood up from bed. He remembered blacking out around ten, or was it nine? He had a suspicion that Bakura knocked him out, but there was no way to know for sure because Sam sure as hell couldn't remember.

 _Nifty trick, isn't it?_ Bakura laughed at the other man's misery. Serves him right for all the nagging; it wasn't his fault he had to resort to nasty tactics to shut the man up. _All the buzz, all the memories, and none of the after effects._

"Ryou has to hate you." Sam groaned. There was too much light in the room and Ryou's apartment was far too noisy.

"He never remembers anything past when I take over him, anyway, so he doesn't know I'm to blame for the headache." Bakura snickered. "Though, I'm usually nicer to him. It doesn't do to have Landlord half conscious all day."

Sam would have sent a witty remark back, but he was currently going through palpitations at the sudden appearance of Bakura. Sam had also at some point fallen off of the bed he was in from the shock. Bakura was standing in front of Sam and had his arms crossed and for once Sam could see that cocky grin on his face instead of just feeling it in the back of his head. "Where did you come from! And why can I see through you?"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Forgot about this little trick, makes things easier." Bakura dropped his arms to his sides as the man on the floor gaped at him. "Though, now you sound _and_ look like my host." _It's damn creepy._

"Can other people see you?" Sam was still coming to terms with the lanky young man suddenly in view. This was so amazing! It was like looking at a real ghost...

"No, just you." Bakura twitched. "Stop putting your hand through my chest!"

Sam recoiled his hand and laughed nervously as he rubbed his hands together. Bakura was full of surprises. "So, what happened to Malik?" He decided it'd be best to move on from the now visible Bakura.

"Beats me," Bakura shrugged and looked around the room. "He's probably still asleep in the living room where I left him."

Sure enough, after peaking around the corner Sam saw Malik curled up on the couch clutching a bottle of bourbon like it was a teddy bear. At least the bottle was still half full. Sam sighed anyway and leant his head against the door frame. "Aren't you two too young to drink?"

"I'm 3000 years old, I can drink liquor if I damn well want to." Bakura smacked Sam on the back of the head. Or at least tried to, his hand merely phased through Sam's noggin. He'd have to find a solution to that.

"That doesn't explain Malik." Sam suppressed the shiver from having the spirit go through him. It was a creepy cold feeling; he hoped not to repeat it any time soon.

"He's not a citizen anyway, so who cares? You act like trouble making teenagers don't drink."

"I'm not saying they don't, I'm just noting how much trouble you can get Ryou into." Sam sank down into a chair next to the couch and held his still aching head.

"Landlord'll be fine. You act like I get caught."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did one of these days."

Bakura changed the conversation. Who was he to question his skills? If things kept going the way they were he'd be forced to injure that know-it-all. "Better wake Malik up though, or we're going to be late."

Sam didn't have time to reply as he was quickly shoved out of control of his body. Bakura didn't have to be so rough. _I'm never getting used to that, either._

"I know." Bakura smirked and cracked his knuckles. "That's what makes it fun."

Malik let out a most undignified yelp as he was shoved off the couch by Bakura's foot. He hissed and held the spot of his head that had slammed into the ground before reprimanding his assailant. "Ow! What'd you do that for?"

"For fun."

 _At least you saved the bourbon bottle._ Sam watched Bakura toss the bottle he had caught during Malik's fall up and down. _I'm going to need it later._

 _Got that right._ Bakura chuckled internally. "Get moving Malik, we're going to be late."

Malik glared at his white haired buddy who was laughing. Sometimes he just wished Ryou was always in control. It was easier to deal with him. "Yeah, yeah."

* * *

 Yami didn't like this. He didn't like it one bit. _This has to be a trap, Partner._

Yugi sighed. Yami had been sulking and pacing in his soul room since Bakura left the shop the other day. At first he had considered the thief's words and felt almost guilty, but then he had convinced himself otherwise and there'd been no convincing _him_ since then. Yugi would have thought it was cute had it not been for the circumstances. _I'm sure it'll be fine. It can't kill us to give him a chance, if only for Bakura's sake, right?_

 _I guess I'll trust your judgment._ Yami relented. His partner was doing his best to make him feel better about everything so he should probably be more lenient if only for his sake. However that by no means meant he was letting his guard down. _But I swear, if he tries anything funny!_

 _Then we'll all let you handle it._ Yugi smiled at him as the Pharaoh pouted. _But for now, I think we have to calm the others down._

"What's taking Bakura so long?" Jonouchi whined. They had been waiting for what seemed like _forever_ for their white haired friend to show up. He almost wished the thief would spring a trap on them if only to alleviate the boredom.

"Yeah, he invited us." Honda leaned against his blonde friend. If he could read minds, he'd probably be agreeing with Jonouchi. "It would only make sense he'd be on time."

"Maybe he ran into some trouble getting here?" Anzu picked herself up from the bench she had been sitting on. She pushed her hair behind her ear and tried to keep up a cheerful influence. "He does have to walk here, doesn't he?"

"Fine," Jonouchi huffed. "But if he's not here in ten minutes I'm leaving."

"I'm sure he'll be here, Jonouchi." Yugi added. At least they weren't worried about Bakura springing a trap on them or something. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you guys browsed some shops in the meantime though."

"You think?"

"Yeah." Yugi nodded cheerfully. "Me and Anzu can wait for him while you guys break your mini cabin fever."

"Trying to get some alone time." Honda grinned and elbowed his very short friend in the side. "We gotcha."

"Hey!" Jonouchi shouted when his friend started to drag him away forcefully. "Stop grabbing my arm, Honda!"

"I will when we get to the arcade." His grin widened and continued pulling on his oblivious friend. "Let's leave the love birds alone, right?"

"Oh, oh! Right." Jonouchi sported a matching grin as soon as he got the message. "Right."

Yugi was already as red as a stop sign by the time the two had rounded the corner. He barely managed to stumble out his next line. "What jokers our friends are."

"Right, jokers." Anzu was quiet and let out a tiny cough. "They'll never grow up."

 _Partner, maybe you should take them up on that._ Yami smirked and materialized next to his partner. He added a wink for kicks. _It is a nice opportunity._

 _YAMI!_ Yugi squawked.

 _Just kidding,_ Yami smiled warmly and held his hands up in front of him. _But can you blame me?_

_Yes._

"Yugi?" Anzu pushed her short friend's shoulder for emphasis.

"Yes, Anzu?" Yugi put his conversation with Yami on hold.

"I hate to interrupt you and Yami, but Bakura's here." She pointed at the white haired boy walking towards them for emphasis.

"It's kind of a good think Jonouchi and Honda left." Yugi stared at the boy accompanying Bakura. The very tan boy covered in gold jewelry wearing a purple belly shirt. "Isn't that Malik?"

"Yeah, wonder where he met up with Bakura."

"Doesn't matter to dwell on it now." Yugi piped up and started waving his arm to hail his friend and sort-of new friend. "Hey Bakura! Over here!"

Bakura frowned and crossed his arms. This was supposed to be his 'Landlord's' outing which meant he probably should let Sam take over. "Well, guess that means Landlord gets to play now."

"Aw, I don't want to face them all by myself." Malik punched Bakura in the shoulder. Malik was pretty sure that not everyone was still completely over the whole Battle City ordeal and Ryou may or may not be cooperative. "What if that whole friend thing was a heat of the moment ordeal at the end of the duel?"

"Can't be helped either way." Bakura punched Malik back twice as hard. He smiled when the boy sulked. "They're expecting him and I promised to be nice."

Malik rubbed his arm as they approached the ever waving child. At least Yugi was probably sincere about the whole friend thing. "Doesn't sound like you."

"It's not." Bakura licked his teeth. "But a promise is a promise, even for a thief. See ya' later."

A blink later and Sam was staring at a disappointed Malik. He looked down and to the side, before rubbing the back of his head. At least Ryou didn't know the kid either. "Malik, right?"

"Yo," Malik paused mid-sentence. "I'm going to just call you Ryou, just to save on confusion."

"Fine by me." Sam smiled and took a deep breath. It was show time. "Let's go meet Yugi and Anzu."

"If you say so." Malik prepared himself for the boredom that he just realized was coming. It just wouldn't be any fun without the thief to terrorize anyone.

"It's good to see you, Bakura." Yugi smiled, cheerfully as ever. As he watched Bakura look around he decided to clarify where the others were; Bakura didn't need to think he was stood up! "Sorry Jonouchi and Honda aren't here. They got tired of waiting so they went to an arcade on the other end of the mall."

"That's okay," Sam tried to remember to stay meek. It was important to remember the shy non-assertive part of his role. "I'm sure they'll be back, but I'm glad you guys are here."

Malik coughed.

"And Malik decided to come join us as well." Sam looked at Anzu who was slightly tense. It might have been a good idea to have had Bakura fill him in on the specifics of how Malik knew everyone. "That's okay, isn't it?"

"Of course! Malik's our friend, too." Yugi smiled, yet again.

 _I think you should say 'my friend.'_ Yami yawned. Despite his earlier suspicions, there wasn't anything too out of place yet and Bakura did show up right out in the open. Surly if he had been planning something he wouldn't have introduced his only plausible accomplice. _Last time I checked Jonouchi was still cross with the guy._

 _Can't be helped, Yami._ Yugi turned away from his partner for the moment to address his friends. He'd have to go find Jonouchi and Honda later, but for now there was no point in just sitting around. "Shall we go in?"

"Let's." Anzu chirped happily. If Yugi was alright with the situation, than she probably didn't have much to worry about either. She followed Yugi and Bakura into the shop and instantly went into shopping mode; some of those figurines were just so cute!

Sam was taking in the sights of the shop with an air of awe. He had read the instruction guides and gotten the game play down, but that didn't prepare him for the massive amount of gaming goods in front of him. He had forgotten that the players of these games could be quite the fanatics. Yugi seemed to be enjoying himself as well pointing to one thing and the next with just a noticeable glitter in his eyes. Anzu followed behind and smiled at his comments about his own Game Shop, though it was obvious she was checking out the merchandise herself. She gigged when Yugi started complaining about pricing and Sam found himself grinning as well. Happy the other two were enjoying themselves, Sam looked over some of the figurines.

 _Don't buy anything but base supplies._ Sam sighed as Bakura's voice filled his head. It had been doubtful the silence was going to last much longer anyway. _Landlord does all his own painting and sculpting._

 _Would Yugi and the others know that?_ Sam smiled and picked up a particularly cute looking mage figurine. The brown hair and face almost reminded him of Al, but that could have also been the orange and green striped vest the thing was wearing.

_No, but as soon as you're gone they're going to notice the difference._

_They're going to notice the difference when I don't have the slightest clue of what I'm doing making models._

_You won't have to,_ Bakura sighed. This had to be worth the work. And if it wasn't, his Landlord was going to make sure that it ended up being worth it. _I'll do it._

 _Right. I keep forgetting you like this stuff too._ Sam smiled when Bakura started spluttering in the background about how he didn't _like_ any of it. Sam ignored him. "Hey, Yugi!"

"Yeah, Bakura?" Yugi looked up from a dark magician figure that had gotten mixed into the Monster World display. Yugi had a knack for finding his favorite monster anywhere. He was trying to ignore Yami who was pestering him to buy it. It didn't help that he sort of wanted it as well.

_Buy it! You've got allowance money._

_Shut up, Yami. Bakura's trying to talk to us._

"When do you think Jonouchi and Honda will be back?" Sam continued politely. He was proud of himself that he had waited for Yugi and his spirit to stop talking.

"Whenever we go drag them from the shop." Yugi tilted his head. He had been wondering if they were doing alright anyway. "Want me to? After all, your spirit did say we were here for you, right?"

"I'll go!" Malik volunteered himself. He was tired of being ignored anyway and this sounded like it could be fun. "I wanna' see their faces."

"Are you sure Malik?" Sam questioned. He was getting a bad feeling in his gut; Bakura snickering didn't help either. "I could always go."

Yugi coughed and dared to approach the more sensitive subject. "Yeah, I'm not sure if Jonouchi's still completely forgiven you yet."

"All the better reason, right?" Malik grinned. This definitely meant that it could be fun to go play with the puppy and his idiot friend.

Sam recognized that smile. He'd seen it many times in his many adventures. It was the smile of someone who was going to get their way no matter what. So he saved everyone some trouble and caved for them as experience dictated.

_Spoil sport._

He choose to ignore Bakura when he answered. "We're all friends, right? So it should be okay."

"If you're sure, Bakura." Yugi relented. Yami wasn't much help as he was choosing to keep quiet over the whole issue; if there even was one. Yugi could just be making a mountain over a mole hill – but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

"Hey, if anything goes wrong we call all be there to stop it at least." Anzu decided to give her view. "Not that anything should go wrong."

"Right, right." Malik just nodded and practically ignored her. "The arcade, right?"

"Right." Yugi nodded as Malik skipped out of the store with a definite look of glee on his face. Yugi couldn't help but frown. _I hope there's no trouble._

 _I wouldn't worry too much, Partner._ Yami patted him on the head and rubbed his hair. _Jonouchi and Honda can take care of themselves. Besides, what happened to the 'it can't kill us to give him a chance'?_

Yugi blushed in embarrassment. _Right._

Sam noticed Yugi blushing and assumed he was talking to the Pharaoh again. Sam wondered if it was a bad thing he was taking that for normal behavior. If he didn't already know better about the situation he'd think the kid was schizophrenic. _Do we make faces when we talk?_

 _Probably._ Bakura yawned. This was so damn boring; he should have gone with Malik. _Hey, what's that?_

 _What's what?_ Sam asked.

 _I can feel someone watching us._ Bakura tensed; there was someone there. _I'll handle it._

Bakura was in control before Sam could protest and scanning the area. He could have sworn he felt someone watching them. Now there was nothing, like it had just passed by after failing. Bakura blinked. How could he tell the person watching had failed? He sighed, sometimes it really sucked being able to read people that well. Now he had more questions than answers and it was just annoying.

"What brings you out, tomb robber?" Perfect. And now the Pharaoh makes an entrance to make his life miserable.

"Nothing to worry about." Bakura flicked Yami off for kicks. "Just a little bored. But I could ask you the same thing, considering how fast you popped out. Don't trust me around your little host?"

"I barely trust you around yourself."

"Guys," Anzu broke in. She wasn't stupid, she could feel the tenseness in the air as the two ancient spirits glared at each other. You could practically see the static in the air. "We're here to be nice for Bakura, right? So let's not fight."

"Your tune sure changed overnight." Bakura smirked and laughed at her glare. "Words hit home?"

"Leave her alone." Yami was strict in keeping his voice level. Anzu had made her point; they needed to at least _try_ and get along. Yugi was agreeing in the back of his head; he was outnumbered. Yami only hoped that Bakura was nagging the thief in much the same fashion.

"Fine." Bakura shrugged as Sam yelled at him to behave or so help him they'd never get this over with and his Landlord would never be back. "This is my last good deed for the year anyway, so I might as well play nice."

"That's good to know." Anzu sighed in relief. It seems they were going to back down from each other. "I think."

_Bakura! Let me out!_

Bakura rolled his eyes. _So impatient._

Despite his rude reply Sam was granted control of the body again to face the Pharaoh and Anzu. Sam tried for an embarrassed smile and figured he succeded when Yami relaxed his shoulders. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright, Bakura." Yami nodded. "I take it that many years by himself has made him fairly sporadic."

"Something like that Yami. I'm sure Yugi feels the same way when you take over."

This caused Yami to shift nervously; he hadn't really thought about that. Yugi usually never complained about it. "I guess so. Speaking, I think he wants to come back now." _Sorry, Partner. I guess that was sudden, wasn't it?_

Yugi stretched after coming back into his body. The thought of Yami being compared to Bakura's spirit was rather funny. _No problem, Yami. You were just worried._

"Hello again, Yugi." Sam patted him on the head; he just couldn't help himself. He was so short and cute.

Yugi swatted his hand away with a giggle. "Knock it off!"

Sam laughed. It felt good, but it didn't last long. He turned towards the entrance of the shop and listened closely. "Do you hear shouting?"

"Sounds like Jonouchi." Anzu took a few steps out of the shop and leaned on a RPG display to get a better look. She let out a tiny sigh and turned back to the others. "Yup, Jonouchi."

The others rounded the corner to join her to see a very smug looking Malik and two very pissed off followers. Jonouchi was trying to strangle him and Honda was doing his best to keep Jonouchi off of Malik as they walked. It was a fairly normal scene, actually. Save for the dog collar around Jonouchi's neck and Malik holding a leash. That part wasn't so normal; but funny none-the-less considering the playful air that hung around the group.

"You bastard!" Jonouchi tried clawing the air. It didn't work. Damn Honda and his damn hold! "I'm so going to get you!"

"It's not my fault you lost." Malik smiled and twirled the leash in his hand. That had been far too easy.

"Lost at what?" Yugi ran up to the group.

"Arcade game." Honda sighed out and started to struggle holding his friend back. "Jonouchi and Malik got into a scuffle when he showed up so they made a stupid bet to end things without a fight."

"I took Kaiba up on his nickname for our dear blonde," Malik winked and let the leash dangle off his index finger. "I think he looks good as a dog."

Honda finally just gave up and let Jonouchi go when he got tired, only to see him smack into the floor as Malik ducked behind Bakura. Jonouchi moaned as the others tried to hold in the giggle. Poor Jonouchi.

"It was only a bit of fun, can you blame me?" Malik grinned at Yugi who was clearly enjoying the scene was well.

"Ah, come on Jonouchi." Yugi knelt down next to him. Jonouchi accepted the handkerchief Yugi offered to tend his bleeding nose and pride. "I'm sure he didn't mean anything too bad."

"Hey, Bakura. Been here long?" Honda decided to just take a break from everything and talk with Bakura. It was safer.

"Not too long." Sam smiled. He found he was doing that a lot lately; Sam was surprised his face wasn't hurting yet from the lot of it.

_Sellout. Sellout. Sellout._

Even with the noisy voice in his head. _Jerk._

 _But I'm the best of the best jerks._ _So it all evens out._

"Let's all go back into the shop and try to make sure the rest of the day is better?" Sam walked over to help Yugi with Jonouchi.

"I'm not going anywhere with him!" Jonouchi mumbled through the handkerchief and pointed a finger. Malik smirked at him and Jonouchi nearly made another pass at him; had Yugi not been holding his shoulder.

 _Malik tried to kill you._ Bakura crossed his arms. _Last time I checked, Ryou didn't have any hard feelings._ Ryou didn't remember it either, but Sam didn't need to know that. _That seems worse than getting tricked._

"If I can forgive Malik, so can you Jonouchi." Sam was stern; Bakura had a good point. They all had to get along, for his sake, for Ryou's sake, hell, probably for everyone's sake. People were better off getting along, however difficult that can be.

"I can tolerate. For you Bakura, but only 'cause you're my buddy." Jonouchi dropped his hand from his face. He had forgotten that Bakura had it worse dealing with both Malik and the thief. Jonouchi found his eyes wandering to where Bakura had been stabbed and he relented. "I'm not sure how much more I can do. It still hurts, you know?"

"Oh, get over it." Malik put his hands behind his head and walked into the shop. The fact Jonouchi had hit a soft spot with him was fairly obvious.

"Yeah," Yugi started and clapped his hands together. "Let's go back into the shop. It's a sale right? So we gotta' be quick!"

Everyone nodded and started back into the shop. It was Anzu who spoke first now that the tense moment had ended. "Did you have a good time at the arcade?"

"Yeah, but it was weird before Malik showed up." Honda put a finger to his chin and leaned against a paint stand. "It felt like someone was watching us."

Sam took note of that. _Just like what you felt, Bakura._

 _Wonder what it was._ It couldn't have been anything too threatening, or at least not to Bakura. _It'll show itself eventually if it's a threat._

 _Right._ "How odd," Sam put a hand to Honda's shoulder. "But the feelings gone now, right?"

"Yeah," Honda shrugged and his eyes locked onto a shelf just behind Bakura. "Hey! It's a gunman! That was my figure!"

Sam blinked at the sudden change of topic. He forgot how easy it was to distract teenagers.

_Doesn't help he's also a moron._

_Be nice Bakura._

_Make me._

"Yugi! Over here!"

Everyone turned at the sudden shout. It wasn't anyone from their group, but Yugi seemed to recognized the voice right away. Sam looked up to see a very small boy with scruffy black hair and a bandanna. He had a giant grin on his face and was waving towards their group.

"Mokuba!" Yugi smiled and waved back at the energetic boy.

* * *

 "Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No." A little more gleeful this time.

"What if I snuck you some ice cream?"

"Nope."

"Magazines?"

"I'm not a pervert like you!"

"Not those type of magazines!"

"Do you own any others?"

Damn this kid for being smart. "You're evil."

"You're old."

"You're enjoying this."

"Yup." Ryou grinned. He had been filled of the details on why this man wanted information, but Ryou felt like that would be cheating. Getting inside information from the source directly couldn't have been legal in this game. And if Ryou had learned anything, it was that where Bakura and Yami were found, the shadows were soon to be involved. The shadows didn't tolerate cheating and there was no point in even risking it.

Not that he'd explain that to Al; that would ruin his fun.


	7. Part 6. The Mall, Take Two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry this next part took so long to get out. I'm in such a hurry to get to a certain part it's become hard to think of the details to fill in between. Ah, well. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!
> 
> In any case I hope you all enjoy the second half of the mall trip! And just who is that shadowy figure?
> 
> Edit 7/19/07: Ditto to the other updates.

"What are you doing here, Mokuba?" Yugi was surprised to see him, but he was happy Mokuba was there all the same. It'd been a while since he'd seen the younger Kaiba in such good spirits.

 _You don't think Kaiba's here do you?_ The Pharaoh moaned in the back of Yugi's head. Where Mokuba was, came Kaiba. Yami didn't want to deal with that nonsense today. He was still adjusting to the thief hanging around, he didn't need that arrogant bastard here, too.

"Same as you, I'd imagine." Mokuba chirped and swung his arm out. "Checking out the mall of course! How could I pass up a sale in a game shop?"

"You never come to any of my Grandpa's shop's sales." Yugi chided.

"Heh," Mokuba scratched behind his ear. He had been caught. "Well, you know how Seto is, besides, your shop has never had a Monster World sale!"

"Do you like Monster World, too, Mokuba?" Sam decided to step into the conversation.

"Huh?" Mokuba looked at him for a long moment before recognition hit. It was that Bakura kid from the Battle City finals. If Mokuba thought hard enough, he could remember seeing him at Duelist Kingdom. Guy gave him the creeps, but he responded anyway. "Not really, it's my big brother who's really into it."

Everyone was slightly startled at that admission. They knew Kaiba liked chess and Duel Monsters, but it never occurred to them that he'd like role playing games. They couldn't see him having time to play the game with his work in the way. They definitely couldn't see him playing with other people on a team. He was too antisocial for that, wasn't he?

 _Who's Kaiba?_ Sam was just confused.

 _Pharaoh's rival. Used to be his high priest way back when, but today's Kaiba doesn't believe in magic._ Bakura snickered remembering the priest's stupid hat. _Most stubborn bastard I've ever met. The guy's surrounded by, hell is in the middle of, magic and shadows everyday and he refuses to admit it's anything more than smoke and mirrors._

Bakura's amusement was pulling a smile to Sam's face. Even Sam was starting to believe in magic and he'd only seen the spirits. _Tough customer._

 _Stubborn bastard._ _Don't you listen to what I'm telling you?_

"Is your big brother here, Mokuba?" Yugi finally caved to Yami's pestering voice. Yugi hated it when Yami whined, so it was no surprise Yami kept whining to get Yugi to cave. Sneaky spirit, darn him!

"Yeah, Seto's been hiding behind a stand over there since you came into the store." Mokuba pointed a finger towards a tall rack of figurines in the back of the shop. If you looked closely you could see the edge of a trench coat peaking out from the columns of pewter figurines.

"Jerk!" Jonouchi shouted. "Kaiba! Get out here!"

"Apparently my attempts to avoid you idiots have been foiled." Kaiba sighed as he slowly worked his way around the shelves, pretending to be interested in the merchandise as he went. Such shoddy workmanship on those figurines. "You're a traitor, Mokuba."

"The socialization is good for you." Turning back to Yugi, Mokuba grinned. "But the real question is what are you guys doing here? Giving up on Duel Monsters? Seto would never forgive you!"

"Hardly." Yugi grinned and pulled at Bakura's sleeve. "Bakura invited us all to the sale. Monster World is his favorite game."

"Are you any good, Bakura?"

"I'd hope I'm decent enough. It's been a while since I've played." Sam smiled softly. He noticed Yugi's eyes shifting away from him at that admission. Maybe Yugi felt guilty about avoiding the game for so long? Ah well, there was a new player to explore at the moment that needed Sam's attention. "Do you play at all, Mokuba?"

"No, just Seto."

"What part do you play, Kaiba?" Honda spoke up this time in genuine curiosity. "Can't say I can see you running around a board as a mage or a knight."

"It's not really any of your business now is it." Kaiba crossed his arms and had his eyes linger on the exit. He really just wanted to look around, maybe come across something rare in a smaller shop, and leave. The pests showing up was ruining his plans, and possibly his schedule if he hung out here any longer. He checked his watch, looked up to see Jonouchi silently glaring at him, and checked his watch again. Definitely going to ruin his schedule.

"Is it that hard of a question to answer?" Malik started twisting his hair around his fingers. He didn't like Kaiba much more than any of the others. At least now he had a bonding method; the enemy of my enemy and all. "Wouldn't kill you."

Kaiba glared at yet another voice that annoyed him. Maybe if he answered they'd be satisfied and just leave him be. "If you really must know, I _always_ play game master."

"That's great!" Sam was shouting before he could stop himself. It was just too perfect to contain his glee.

 _What are you up to?_ Bakura was slightly worried. He could feel gears turning. He couldn't figure out why he thought he should throw a wrench into the works.

"Yeah, how is anything Kaiba said great?" Jonouchi scratched his head and stared at the now very happy white haired boy.

 _You'll see._ Sam smirked inwardly before answering Jonouchi. "It's simple, really."

Everyone stared as Sam hesitated with his answer for effect. He couldn't help but smile at his genius. This was too perfect. Now all he had to do was think of the perfect words to make his perfect plan work. His glee was interrupted by Kaiba's impatience. "Get on with it."

"Well, I wanted to play Monster World with everyone again." Sam started wringing his hands as prompted by Bakura. "Actually, that's why I invited you all to the sale. I had a selfish hope you all might become interested in the game, again."

"That makes sense," Yugi paused. "We did say we'd play again with you, didn't we? Guess we broke that promise."

Sam was thrilled inwardly and ignored Bakura's dramatic fake gagging. "Well, there's still a chance to keep that promise. The only problem with asking you all to play was finding a game master. I figured that I couldn't be game master because of Bakura. You all won't say it out loud but you don't trust him."

"I'm sure that's something Yami would say out loud." Malik snickered off to the side.

Sam continued regardless after poking Malik in the shoulder. "And Yami was ruled out as game master because than Bakura really would do something," Sam thought for a moment for the right word. "Drastic. He was adamantly against the idea. So, I was out of options."

"The point to all this?" Kaiba checked his watch yet again. He had places to be!

"I needed someone to be game master and I was wondering if you'd do it, Kaiba?" Sam smiled hopefully and clasped his hands together.

The silence was overwhelming. The sound of a cricket could be heard echoing through the shop if it wasn't for all those pesky customers milling in the background. It was broken, however, by Yugi's voice. "That's a good idea Bakura!"

_No it's not!_

Both Yami and Bakura were ignored.

"Do you really think so?" Sam stopped and thought. "And since Yami and Bakura don't get along, we could play with two teams and have each one lead. Maybe they could get some of that competitiveness out."

_I'm going to kill you._

_Be quiet, Bakura!_ Sam was still excited. He might be done with this mission sooner than expected. Sam loved it when things fell into place so well; he almost never caught a break this convenient. _I want to hear what they think! It's a given you don't agree._

_I'm still going to kill you._

"Yeah!" Yugi was excited. It'd been far too long since they'd all done something together.

"Aren't you two forgetting something?" Malik piped in. Honda and Anzu grabbed Jonouchi's arms and covered his mouth before Kaiba even replied. No need in letting the idiot ruin things for Ryou.

"Yeah, like I'd have to actually agree to lending my precious time to you fools." Kaiba started to grab Mokuba's arm. "We're leaving this nonsense."

 _Quick!_ Sam practically shouted at Bakura. _How do we get his attention? This might be our only shot!_

_I thought you told me to be quiet._

_Okay! I'm sorry I shouldn't have told you to be quiet!_ Sam was slightly frantic, his perfect plan was walking out the door and dragging a small wild haired child behind him. _Just help!_

 _Call him a coward or make fun that he can't beat the pharaoh._ Bakura shrugged. If he didn't help they'd never get this fiasco over with. _Always seems to work. He's all ego._

 _Would Ryou do something like that?_ Sam was about to speak, but this seemed very out of character from what he had picked up about the timid white haired boy.

_No. He wouldn't._

_Then what can we do!? Are you sure Ryou wouldn't do it?_

_No._ Bakura slapped himself. It was so obvious! _But I would._

Sam was more willing to loose control as Bakura shouted. "Coward much, Kaiba?"

Kaiba stopped on his march out. He didn't bother turning around. He didn't need to turn around to feel the smug gaze on his back. He wasn't an executive for nothing. "Excuse me?"

"Scared you'll still loose to Yami even if you're in control of the game?" Bakura made a show of laughing. Kaiba twitched and he knew he was heading in the right direction. "That's rather pathetic. I can see why you'd run away."

Kaiba turned around to face them. "Six o'clock. Saturday. Place?"

"My apartment. No need to bring equipment." Bakura smirked. "I'm sure an big man like you can find the address on your own."

Everyone stared as Kaiba left without another word. "Is it just me, or did that seem too easy?" Anzu was the first to break the silence. She sighed as she and Honda released Jonouchi.

"That jerk!" Jonouchi growled. "I'm sure he's got something planned."

Sam was back in control to answer. "Bakura sure does have a way at the very least, doesn't he?"

"Or something." Yugi continued. "But, I guess that means we're all playing Monster World at your house, right?"

"Yeah." Sam looked hopefully at the others. "You're all coming right?"

"Of course! Never miss a chance to beat up Kaiba." Jonouchi gave a thumbs up.

"Can't let the idiot make a total fool out of himself, can I?" Honda smacked Jonouchi on the back. He ignored the cursing that followed.

"Definitely, Bakura." Anzu smiled.

"Can't let Bakura fend you guys off by himself can I?" Malik smiled and put an arm around Sam's shoulders.

"Guess it's settled then." Yugi smiled. "And even Yami agrees, though reluctantly."

"Why don't we let the spirits play as their own pieces?" Sam started suddenly. If the spirits were individuals themselves, they'd probably enjoy playing the game as such. "That way it's more fair?"

 _Your funeral when I flatten you._ Bakura smirked.

"Yami definitely agrees to that." Yugi's grin was huge. The Pharaoh was already thinking up ways to crush the thief in the game while wiping the floor with Kaiba. At least he'd be occupied for some time.

"So, who would be on the two teams?" Malik started playing with Sam's hair, well, Ryou's hair.

"How about, me, Bakura, and Malik on one team?" Sam paused. "And Yugi, Yami Jonouchi, Honda and Anzu on the other?"

"That seems a little unfair, Bakura. Our team is so much bigger!" Yugi crossed his arms.

 _Not to mention one of us is the King of Games._ Yami smirked and Yugi giggled inwardly. _Well, it's true. Bakura's going to need all the help he can get!_

Sam stared into space for a moment. "Guess my first guess was right. Bakura says he'd rather be caught dead than on the same team as any one of you and that the only _unfair_ part is he's going to beat all of you on his own using his mad skills." Sam gulped at the pair of purple gone red eyes began glaring at him. "That's what he said!"

"Then I guess he'll have fun loosing." Yami was suddenly smirking. "Our teamwork will crush his so called skill."

"Guess we'll see on Saturday." Sam was thanking God that Bakura was too busy ranting about smug pharaohs to actually take control and do what he was screaming in person.

"Well, if that's the case, let's get going then." Malik pulled Sam's sleeve. "Come on, Bakura promised we'd go hang out some more after this little friend fest."

"He did?" Sam questioned.

 _I did._ Bakura quipped.

"I guess he just confirmed it." Sam felt himself getting dragged by Malik out of the store. "See you guys later!"

Yugi waved goodbye to Bakura before saying his own goodbyes to everyone else. They all had their respective places to be and Yugi was almost glad for the alone time. He was out of the store himself and settling down on a rusty mall bench before he started talking to Yami. _This is going to be fun. We haven't done anything with Bakura for a long time._

 _No, we haven't, Partner._ Yami crossed his arms as he sat in spirit form on the bench. Yugi was kicking his legs back and forth without a care and Yami almost envied that carefree nature of his. _I just hope we don't regret it. I doubt Bakura would do anything, but I don't trust that thief._

Yugi burst out laughing.

 _What is it, partner?_ Yami looked around. _People are staring at you._

 _I'm sorry._ Yugi breathed. _It's just, Malik was right. You would say it out loud._

 _Partner,_ Yami couldn't finish because he found himself snickering as well. _Okay, so maybe he was right._

Yugi smiled at a fountain flowing next to the bench. All the little glints of coins sparkled at the bottom of the fountain like his gold pyramid. _It'll be fun. You'll see._

 _Whatever it is this weekend._ Yami regained his composure. _It'll be interesting at the very least._

Yugi stiffened slightly. _Did you feel that Yami?_

 _Yes._ Yami took over Yugi's body for a better view and stood up to look around. _It felt as though someone was watching us. Someone close by._

Yami looked around but didn't see anything in particular that caused alarm. He concentrated on everyone he could see: A lady with a crying baby, some kids trying to steal money from the fountain, a greasy fast food salesmen on his break, a shadowy figure slipping through a door, a little dog that someone snuck into the mall, a pickpocket so obvious the thief would have laughed at him... _Wait. A shadowy figure?_

 _Where, Yami?_ Yugi appeared in spirit form beside Yami.

 _I don't know._ Yami huffed. _Whoever it was is gone now._

_Wonder what he wanted. If he even wanted anything to do with us. We're getting paranoid, Yami._

_Maybe, but paranoid isn't always a bad thing._ Yami relinquished control. _We'll just have to see what else is in store._

* * *

"You look like a truck hit you, Sam." Al leaned over Sam's barely conscious body on the couch. His eyes wandered over the mess in the living room to see an unconscious tan boy curled up into the corner of the room. His blonde hair looked like it was caught in his earrings while his purple top was pulled up to his neck revealing his chest and stomach. No one could call Al tacky again until they've seen someone mix gold dangle earrings and gold wrist bands with a purple hoodie.

"What do you know, Al." Sam groaned and held his head. He was going to kill Bakura. "That's what I feel like."

"What did Bakura have you up to this time?" Al started punching Ziggy's buttons absently to see if the things Sam had been doing had changed the situation any. As far as making friends go; Sam had been making lots of progress but the percents weren't changing any.

"I forget, I think he took Malik out drinking again." Sam looked at Malik in the corner and then felt his temple. Yup, he had a headache. "Definitely took his friend out drinking, again."

"Ah." Al groaned at Ziggy. "It's not fair how little information is available on these guys. And that kid, Ryou, is definitely not talking. He's a total pain!"

Sam laughed at Al's disgruntled face. It wasn't often someone got him this riled up. "Is he really giving you that much trouble? You usually never complain about stuff like that."

"He's a little monster."

"That's odd, everyone here is under the impression he's a shy, slightly clumsy, intelligent, and all around nice guy."

"Translate that to: conniving, manipulative, and all around annoying brat."

"Be happy Bakura is asleep," Sam paused, "Or couldn't hear you anyway, because I think he'd hurt you."

Al grinned. "Hologram."

"Right." Sam laughed and fell back further into the couch. "It'd be worth it to see him explode when he realized he couldn't do anything to you."

"Ha, ha, Sam." Al yawned. "But anyway, anything new?"

Sam jumped up. "Right! I did it!"

Al waited for Sam to continue.

"Everyone is coming over to play Monster World this Saturday!" Sam's excitement was radiating off of him. "I got a game master, teams and times all set up! All I have to do is clean this place up and I should be leaping by the end of the week!"

"That's great, Sam." Al paused. "Assuming Bakura doesn't do anything."

"Why would he?" Sam sat back down. His headache was slightly winning against his earlier excitement.

"It just seems like the only think that could go wrong."

"Don't worry, Al." Sam closed his eyes. "I think for once he'll behave."

"As long as you're sure."

"Hey, the sooner we play the game and get it over with the sooner you no longer have to deal with Ryou."

Al grinned and inhaled deeply. "Best think I've heard all day."

"Glad that thought comforts you, Al."

Malik stirred in the corner and rubbed his eyes. "Hey, Ryou. Who're you talking to?"

Sam winced at the slurred speech. "Just myself, Malik."

"Oh."

Sam looked up at Al who winked and waved before making his exit through the brightly shining door. Sam decided a nap was in order before he cleaned.

* * *

Ryou giggled.

He couldn't help it. He finally had a way to relieve his boredom. Al was loosing his touch to let Ryou get away with this. He wondered briefly if Al would even notice it was missing before he came to visit Ryou next. The boy shrugged; he didn't care either way.

He hummed to himself as he started. Notice or not, Al was in for a big surprise. Ryou wanted to make sure he saw his face in that first instant.

This time, Ryou snickered.


	8. Part 7. Calm Before The Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting to the fun stuff now. Banter with Ryou and Al making its first real detailed appearance and almost all the players are here! We still have two special guests to be brought in. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
> 
> Edit 7/19/07: A new character made an appearance with this edit. As a request – he's minor, but still cute.

"Why are we cleaning up again?"

Sam groaned. That was the fifth time Malik had complained in the last hour about the cleaning they were doing. Was it so hard to clean things up? Did it really warrant the whining? Sam had to remind himself he was Ryou because any more complaining and he was going to whack the boy upside the head. Sam growled when Bakura sweetly reminded him Landlord would never do such a thing. Sam was tempted to whack Bakura upside the head, too.

 _The boy's used to having servants to clean up after him._ Bakura snickered at Sam's frustration. _What do you expect?_

Sam sighed and leaned over to pick up some papers that had fallen off a desk. So, Malik was spoiled at home; great. _You're not one to talk since_ I'm _the one doing all of the work._

 _Hey, you're the one who wanted to clean._ Bakura waited for the eyes to roll. _You're more like my landlord than you think._

 _Then that should help when everyone is over tonight to play won't it?_ Sam placed the stack of papers back onto the desk before beginning a search for a feather duster. The game room was covered in dust.

_You better hope so. I want this game done and over with by tonight!_

_So you can have your little landlord back, right?_

_Shut up._ _Think you're up to the challenge anyway? My landlord was pretty good at this game._

_I've been through worse. I'm sure I'll be fine._

_I've been through worse. I'm sure I'll be fine._ Bakura mimicked. _Jerk._

Sam giggled to himself and checked a shelf. That duster had to be around here somewhere. When the shelves proved futile he tried some drawers only to find nick knacks and various game pieces. _You weren't there when I played a part in_ Hamlet _stark naked. What could be worse than that?_

_You call that bad? I lived in an era where everyone was half naked, all the time._

_Well,_ Sam considered the next set of drawers as plausible hiding spots. It had to be around here somewhere. _I had to be a blind pianist._

 _I had to walk into the Pharaoh's chambers dragging his daddy's corpse behind me right past the guards. In plain sight._ The smugness was tangible.

 _You did what?_ Sam paused in his searching. He knew Bakura wasn't running on all six cylinders, but that was weird.

 _Shit._ Bakura didn't want to share that. _Ryou doesn't know that. You don't know that._ Sam laughed at the slip before trying one last time. _I have to be a new person on average, every seven days and fix someone's problems to save their lives._

_I died._

Sam didn't know how to respond to that one; that was difficult to top. _I guess you might have a valid…_

Something smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"You never answered." Malik had his hands on his hips with a very regal pout on his face. He really hated being ignored. "Stop talking to Bakura for two seconds."

"Oh," Sam looked down and saw the dice that had assaulted his skull. "Sorry, Malik."

"Yeah, yeah. I should probably be telling Bakura to stop talking to you, right?" Malik's earrings jingled when he tilted his head. "So, why are we going through all the trouble to clean when it's just the Pharaoh and his followers coming?"

"It's usually good to clean up your house when company is coming over." Sam looked at Malik's bored expression. "Come on, all we have left is dusting anyway."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Unless you want to play a game covered in dust." Sam laughed.

"Nah," Malik looked around. "Where do you keep your duster?"

"That's a good question." Sam continued to look and smiled when he saw Malik join him. The combined efforts were sure to chase out that darn feathered contraption!

Bakura just snickered. Sam had the sinking feeling Bakura knew where it was and just wasn't sharing.

_Of course._

Sam hated mind readers.

_Love you, too. Kiss kiss._

* * *

Al was going to kill him. That's all there was to it.

"Don't you like it Mr. Al?" Ryou giggled as he stood proudly in front of his work.

"What did you do to the room?"

"I made it more friendly." Ryou spun around and clutched his prize behind his back. Bakura would be so proud. Ryou wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing but he felt pretty darn good about it either way.

Al nearly dropped his cigar. That little monster had drawn all over the walls! The white room was covered from head to toe in doodles of various degrees from crude drawings to the ever classic tick-tack-toe. Well, the walls were covered as far as the boy could reach in any case; at least the ceiling was still white.

Before Al noticed the markings when he walked in, he noticed Ryou was staring straight at him. He knew something was off because Ryou shouldn't have been able to tell where anything was, let alone the door he usually came in at. You couldn't see the seams of the walls in the room because the color was so solid. Well, apparently not anymore. When he had looked away from Ryou he saw the drawings, and soon after he saw the outlines.

Ryou had drawn lines around the corners of the room making all of the joints visible. Even the door he had just come through was outlined. It was kind of weird actually, the lines for the walls only went so far up leaving the ceiling as incomprehensible as the room used to be. On a side thought, Al wondered how long it had taken Ryou to find all of room outlines, let alone make straight markings. The drawings on the walls included a cartoon of Al saying 'blah blah,' a drawing of Ryou dancing on Al's grave, a creepy drawing of a lady with one angel wing and one devil wing, many games of tick-tack-toe and connect the dots, a few cruder images that won't be named, and on the farthest wall behind Ryou was a chart. The chart was labeled: Number of Veins on Al's Forehead.

This leads us of course back to the present where Al was stuck somewhere between dumbfounded and outright livid. He looked at the ceiling again. There were tiny dots all along the ceiling. Oh Lord, the kid even marked the ceiling.

Ryou just kept smiling as Al took in his handy-work.

"Aren't you going to ask how I did it?" Ryou looked up towards the ceiling and sighed. If only he were taller.

"I'm not sure if I want to know." Al held his head. This was going to take forever to clean up. The little brat probably did it for the company; he knew people would have to come in to clean up his mess. Al smirked, he had it in his right mind to make the kid clean it all by himself. Just a toothbrush and a bucket of bleach.

Ryou held up his weapon of choice when Al started to ignore him. A simple black marker. He waved it back and forth between his index finger and thumb like a pendulum. "Missing anything, Al?"

Al's hands found themselves immediately pressing up against his vest breast pocket. The little thief. "When did you!?"

Ryou shrugged. "Last time you came to visit."

"I didn't even notice."

"I had to learn something from living with a tomb robber in my head, didn't I?" Ryou's grin was positively beaming. He hadn't had this much fun in ages; no wonder Bakura was always causing trouble.

Al growled. "Oh, this."

"This what?" Ryou stared at him while making a tick mark on his chart behind him without turning around. "Why'd you stop."

"I was thinking before I spoke." Al smiled. "But there was no need."

"Do go on." Ryou flicked his hair, made a second tick.

"This means war."

"About time this got interesting." Third tick mark.

Al didn't bother grilling the kid for information. He no longer cared, because that little git was going to get what was coming to him. He stomped out of the room when the forth tick mark was added to his chart. Oh yes. This. Was. WAR.

* * *

Sam smiled at a job well done. The game room looked amazing and everything was set up nicely. Malik was in the living room watching some TV while they waited for the gang to arrive. Sam considered getting snacks and drinks ready for everyone, but decided against it. Being a good host had it's limits with teenagers. Besides, he spent all morning cleaning and didn't need the crumbs or the trash in his apartment. Now all that was left was for the guests to show up.

"Speak of the devil." Sam mumbled as he heard the doorbell ring.

Lo and behold, Seto Kaiba arrived first. Punctual as you would expect from a CEO of a major international corporation. "Let's get this over with."

"We would if anyone else was here." Sam put a hand behind his head. "You're the first. Welcome?"

Kaiba merely rolled his eyes and took a seat in the kitchen. He dug into his briefcase and set his laptop on the table perfectly content to ignore the other boy. "Tell me when the game starts."

"Don't you want to see the board? Or the computer?" Sam stared at him. "You are playing game master."

"No need." Kaiba popped open his laptop and cracked his knuckles. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"Of course." Sam was about to shut the door to the apartment when a hand was stuck in between the door and the frame.

"Not so fast, Bakura!" The hand pushed the door open. "The great Jonouchi has arrived."

Sam noticed Kaiba's back stiffen and watched his nose go father into the screen. Off to the side he saw Malik smile slyly. Oh, this wouldn't be good. He pulled a fake smile onto his face and prepared for the worst. "Hi, Jonouchi."

"Who else is here?" Jonouchi shut the door behind him. "I'm ready to play my warrior self."

Sam ignored Malik's laughter. "Just Malik and Kaiba, we're still waiting for Yugi and the others."

"Damn." Jonouchi wandered towards the television. "Just my luck to be stuck with the rich prick and the annoying Egyptian."

"Please," Sam begged. "Be nice."

_No chance._

"Right," Jonouchi sat next to Malik. He had made up his mind to be nice before he arrived; Jonouchi just couldn't help himself with a few snide remarks. "Was just kidding."

Malik flipped the channel to a dog show.

"Is the mutt on TV?" Kaiba made his presence known.

"WHY YOU!" Jonouchi was up and shouting.

_That was quick._

Malik turned to Kaiba and smiled. Picking on the mutt was a good way to pass the time; seems the millionaire agreed. "Of course. I figured he'd feel more at home with his kin on the television."

Kaiba snickered.

Jonouchi however, was not amused. "Kaiba stop laughing!"

"I only laugh because its true." Kaiba's typing never ceased. It took no effort to multi-task when at least one task involved no effort. He didn't even need to think of new insults to piss off the puppy.

Malik was about to continue in the fight but Sam cut him off by placing a hand on his shoulder. One look in those eyes and Malik decided to behave. He did tell Ryou earlier he wouldn't be mean. Even if Jonouchi started it. He was promised a weekend with just Bakura out for behaving. He wasn't going to blow that. Malik put his attention back to the television and tried to stay interested in that. "Oh, the toy breeds."

"Guys," Sam tried intervening between the other two before things go too ugly. "Would anybody like something to drink?"

"Kaiba!" Jonouchi appeared behind his eternal rival (Though if you asked Kaiba, he was Yugi's eternal rival. The Mutt merely counted as a pest.) in the kitchen. "You want to say that to my face?"

"You're not worth my attention past side comments." Kaiba smirked.

Jonouchi was pissed at this point. He made it known by slamming the lid of Kaiba's laptop closed, almost pinching the man's fingers. "When I'm talkin' to you, you're lookin' at my face."

Kaiba briefly mourned the loss of his dialog. He'd worked so hard on that monologue for the siege of the elfin tower on the third continent and his barbarian conqueror character had been bragging about that speech for months. He'd never live down logging out in the middle of a battle speech. Apparently the Mutt wanted some attention; maybe Kaiba would be generous today.

"Oi!" Jonouchi smacked the lid again. "I'm still talking to you."

Kaiba picked up Jonouchi's wrists one by one and removed the offending limbs from his laptop. When they were placed neatly on the table, he calmly stood up to look Jonouchi down in the eyes. "You have my attention."

Despite the scare tactic, Jonouchi wasn't intimidated by height difference. "About time, Kaiba-boy."

Kaiba growled at the reference. Duelist Kingdom was an event best left behind them; how dare the brat bring that up! "You must really want to be punished, Mutt."

"The Shih Tzu took the gold." Malik shouted.

Kaiba continued, "Now where did I put my newspaper?"

Jonouchi was stumbling for an answer. "Why I outta' knock your block off!"

Sam stood unnoticed behind them while Malik tried desperately not to get too involved. Apparently the working group was up next on the dog show. Fun. Sam was surprised he wasn't looking for a camera to at least record the drama. But this did need to end fairly quickly.

 _Why?_ Bakura wished he had popcorn. _It's so much fun to watch the master beat the hound._

"Sorry, my mistake. The sports group is up next."

_You're intolerable._

"Oh, Dalmatian."

_But you love me._

"Dobermans are cool."

_When did I say that._

"That Terrier almost looks like Jonouchi." Malik mumbled that last line, wouldn't do to piss off Ryou too much tonight.

Bakura shrugged. _Doesn't matter, oh. They're going to start throwing punches._

 _What?_ Sam turned his attention back to the unruly house guests.

"What'd you say about my mother!?"

"She's has to be a bitch by all logic," Kaiba repeated. "After all, what else would produce you?"

"That's it!" Jonouchi was about to throw the punch, but he was deterred.

Sam had grabbed his fist and had it flipped behind his back before it could come within an inch of Kaiba's face. Having a firm hold on Jonouchi's wrist and having his face close to the table, he politely continued. "I think we've all had enough."

Jonouchi winced slightly, since when did Bakura have such a strong grip? "Okay, got it."

Sam sighed and released Jonouchi. "Now, please. Can we all get along?"

"Yeah, but…"

Sam cut Jonouchi off. "Both of you. That means you both just stop talking to each other. I won't have fighting in my home."

 _It's not your home._ Bakura whistled. _You could have let them keep going._

_Not the time._

Sam dropped two glasses of water between Jonouchi and Kaiba who were sharing a friendly glare. "Have a drink."

"Wow, Ryou." Malik commented wandering into the kitchen. He started playing with his bracelet as he watched the white haired boy. "Since when did you have fighting moves?"

Sam's breath caught. _Oh, crap._

 _Don't worry so much._ Bakura considered the situation. _None of them know you that well._

"Self taught?" Sam threw out.

"Neat." Malik stole Jonouchi's glass of water and headed back towards the couch.

Sam neatly replaced the glass and was proud Jonouchi hadn't moved. It was at this moment the doorbell so thankfully rang.

It was Honda, baring gifts...and a dog. _Oh shit!_ "Hello, Honda."

"I brought some bags of chips if that's okay." Honda pulled at his dog's leash as the animal started to bark at Bakura. That was odd; normally he was fine around the other boy. "Sorry about this, but I needed to get him out of the house while they sprayed for bugs."

"Of course." Sam smiled and tried to shoo the dog away. He should have known that things would go badly somewhere; So much for a clean apartment. Stupid mutts and their ability to see right through him! "That was very thoughtful. About the snacks, I mean."

"Some backup!" Jonouchi shouted from across the room and was instantly heading towards the door.

Honda stared at him as the door was shut behind him. He tied the now merely glaring dog to the door knob and waited for an explanation and Sam prayed nothing would start again.

"Where were you when I need ya'!?" Jonouchi demanded. "You left me with the wolves!"

Honda noticed Jonouchi was pointing wildly at Kaiba and Malik. Nothing more needed to be said and he patted his dog on the head. "Ah. The usual then."

Malik smiled when he noticed that Kaiba was sitting at his closed computer pouting. "Yup. Though, this time I think they tied. Much like the Doberman with the Dalmatian in the final round"

"Really," Honda became interested as he looked over at the dog show on TV. "Do tell."

"Do not." Sam forbid it. "It ended. That's all there is to it."

Honda stared at Bakura. "They got to you that bad did they? I've never seen you this grumpy."

Sam responded quietly. "Even I have limits. I wish Yugi and Anzu would get here so we could start and kill each other on the game board instead."

A collective quiet filled the room, save for the barking on the TV. Honda's dog was behaving himself for the most part; he only growled when Sam got near him. Malik was amused as Jonouchi fell into the seat beside him on the couch. Mutt twitched for every bark so Malik turned the volume up a notch. Honda rolled his eyes and made sure to sit between the two of them. Sam joined Kaiba in the kitchen and drank his own glass of water.

It was twenty minutes after that when Yugi and Anzu decided to grace them all with their presences. The tension in the room was so thick, pea soup would have been ashamed of itself. "Welcome guys." Sam blurted out as they entered the room and like everyone else, shut the door behind them careful of Honda's dog nipping at his ankles. "What took you so long?"

"I had to help Grandpa in the shop." Yugi mumbled not making eye contact. His puzzle was very interesting to him today.

Also finding the puzzle interesting, Anzu added, "I was waiting for him."

_Bets they were making out._

Sam twitched at the manic laughter going on in his head. "Well then, since we're all here, let's play!"

_Ah, no prying? You know they're lying._

_Knock it off._ Sam held his arm out like a guide in hopes of hurrying things along. "The game room's this way."

Everyone eventually trudged towards the game room to find it neatly set up. Everyone's game pieces (custom made courtesy of the Thief) were neatly arranged on the board. After the jostling for seating positions, save for Kaiba at the head of the table, they all settled in to start playing. It was at this point they heard a slamming door in the other room and the distinct sound of a dog barking.

"What was that?" Sam stood up from his seat to go investigate when the game room door burst open.

A familiar shadowy figure appeared and lurched into the room.


	9. Part 8. Rishid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been quite some time since this was updated, hasn't it? Sorry about that – but this chapter gave me some trouble. In the end, it didn't turn out quite like I wanted, but it'll have to do. Thank-you all for putting up with me and I hope you enjoy Part 8.
> 
> Also, Rishid is Odeon, if you're only familiar with the English Version.
> 
> Edit 7/19/07: I tried to tone done the ooc of this chapter, but it's still mostly there. I do assure you – Chapter 9 will feature everyone back in character. XD

"Master Malik?" Rishid scanned the various guests sitting contently at their tables at the small coffee shop. He looked down again at his two steaming drinks and once again viewed the empty table before him. At least it was Master Malik who paid for the coffee, even if he was too lazy to go get it himself.

Rishid knew he shouldn't have gotten up this morning when he realized he had been forgotten by Master Malik. He sighed and set the drinks down on the table and sat to take a sip of his own steaming beverage. A few quiet sips would calm him down. Master Malik was always telling him he acted like a mother hen anyway. Rishid stared at the untouched coffee cup and added some cream out of habit. It wasn't his fault whenever he left Master Malik alone he got into trouble. I mean, really, he hasn't changed all that much from his 'take over the world' days. He stirred the two liquids together and watched them blend into a creamy chocolate color.

It was here when a sliver of silver resting on the ground caught his attention. Reaching down for it, Rishid found it to be a single white hair. He pondered it for a moment and ran it back and forth between his fingers. He didn't need a genetics lab to know who's hair this belonged to. There was only one white haired psycho that Master Malik would run off with. He hoped. Imhetep help us all if he would run off with someone else. Actually, help us even if he did run off with Bakura. After all, that boy was a bad influence.

Mother hen instinct took over a this point and Rishid rose to the challenge. After cleaning up the plates of course, a lifetime as a servant hadn't worn off him yet. Damn.

He was lucky that there was a phone booth about two steps from the café, it would make finding Bakura's address easier. He whistled a happy tune as made his way to the helpful book. After looking briefly looking down column B he was able to locate a one Ryou Bakura's apartment. He was fairly surprised it was actually listed under the child's name, but who was he question the will of Ma'at?

Rishid was also relieved that the apartment complex was close by to the coffee hut, as it would only take him about twenty minutes to reach the building if he took his time walking. He smiled to himself when he realized that this would not be as big of an issue as he had thought. He would simple walk down to the building, grab Master Malik, politely of course, and take him home to Mistress Isis. She always knew what to do with him when he refused to listen to his "big brother." You would think after the whole evil half consuming him he would have learned his lesson about listening to faithful old Rishid.

He was making his way down the path when he heard the soft pitter patter of little feet. It made him feel warm and fuzzy inside to think of cute little critters running around and being joyful. Rishid turned slowly to look down at a pint sized Pomeranian that had just started to yip at him. He smiled, but refrained from petting the dog. The street sign caught his eye and realized he was only about a block away from Bakura's home. Rishid waved happily to the puppy before attempting to turn around.

Or at least until he heard the bark. He looked down and confirmed it was not from the Pomeranian. It was much too deep, menacing, and vicious. Besides, the Pomeranian's mouth didn't budge. If Ma'at liked him, it was merely someone's television set blaring too loudly. In the middle of the street. If she didn't like him, there was a Doberman, Pit Bull, or Rottweiler growling behind him.

Would you look at that? It was a Great Dane. He briefly wondered what he did to piss Ma'at off. He smiled at the dog and took a step back accidentally kicking the Pomeranian he had forgotten about. What came about after this went by much too quickly for him to remember completely, but he was sure the little bitch had ripped his pants and the big dog had taken a chunk of his rear out. That couldn't have tasted good. However, Rishid had little time to care as he sprinted wildly in the opposite direction of the apartment complex. Maybe he could run around the block and avoid them.

Nope. They were still chasing him and had recruited a buddy or two. He didn't know the breeds of those two new ones, but they were bigger than the Dane, that's all that mattered. They needed names so he could curse them later. He'd call the Dane, Hamlet. The Pomeranian was now Kate, while he'd name the other two dogs Yugi and Yami because he knew this was somehow their fault down the line and he couldn't remember anymore Shakespeare characters. Stupid dogs, this is why they worshiped cats. Cats reminded him of Master Malik, selfish and too lazy to help. Better yet, too lazy to chase a poor man down the street with a gang of buddies.

A sign of hope appeared when he spotted the apartment building, he'd made a full circle around the block. Rishid leaped for the first high point he saw in the yard, which turned out to be a rather tall tree. "Thank Geb!" After scrambling to the first set of branches, he climbed one more flight to hide himself in the foliage. If the dogs were stupid they'd forget he was there.

After about three hours, Rishid had noticed the stupid mongrels had a system of guard duty going. First Yami and Kate would leave for about thirty minutes leaving Hamlet and Yugi watching him. When they had returned, they'd have food and the other two would eat before running off themselves. He wanted to cry, but he'd rather not hear the barking again. And more than that he wanted some pants. His pair had gotten caught on one of the first branches and torn completely. Kate took great pride in shredding it beyond recognition. He settled himself further into his branch chair that he had found very uncomfortable for the tenth time. It was going to be a long day.

Make that night. It was only another hour before sunset, the sky was already turning red from the disappearing orb. If the Gods had any mercy the sun would not set until the dogs had left.

Curse them. Curse them all! Curse Aten, Bastet, Benu, Buto, Kheper, Ra, and Sia. Double curses to Atum for not listening to his silent pleas. He'd regret that string of madness later, but for now he was calmed by Nut's glittering stars. Rishid decided that the dogs weren't leaving for now and could only hope they'd be gone by morning. He was about to curl into the tree to try and get some sleep when he heard it.

"Bakura!" He heard the familiar whining and leaned out of the branches towards it. The dogs growled, but there was no mistaking that voice!

"What Malik?" There was a pause. "Stop grabbing! I told you no!"

"Bakura!"

"No!"

Rishid wished he could see better so he could stop Min from working on Master Malik! Master Malik was never good with liquor. How did Rishid know he was drunk? The bottle of Captain Morgan's that Bakura was holding out of reach was a good tip. He stuck with his earlier theory. Bad influence and under the influence all in one. There was only one thing to do in this case.

"Help!" He tried to make his cries audible over the sounds of barking. He added the names Hamlet, Kate, Yugi and Yami to his curse list.

Bakura stopped walking just short of the door and let Malik slam into him and in his drunken stupor hit the pavement soon after. A quick look at a bunch of yelping dogs knocked his thief senses into gear. His first instinct was to see what they were barking at, just like any other hot blooded voyeur at heart.

"Bakura," Malik tried to pull himself up using Bakura's pants as a lever. "I thought you said we were going to find some girls?"

"Later." Bakura kept his eyes on the tree to see an interesting sight. _Well, well, well. Look what we got here._

 _Got what, Bakura?_ Sam muttered. He just wanted to go back to sleep, but if it caught Bakura's curiosity it couldn't be a good thing.

_None of your business._

Rishid waved his arms and nearly fell out of the tree in his attempts to get Bakura to come help him. He had shadow magic! He could beat up the dogs easy! All it would take was a good monster summon and these dogs would wish they had never met this face-tattooed Egyptian!

Bakura cocked his head to one side and blinked. Rishid, in a tree, with no pants, surrounded by barking dogs. Not that it was his business, but if the pants were anything to go by, than Rishid too wanted to get laid tonight. He shuddered at the thought of Rishid being kinkier than him, if the _dogs_ were anything to go by. He took a sip of his drink.

"What'cha lookin' at, Bakura?" Malik clung helplessly to his shoulder, no longer being able to support himself let alone notice Rishid in the tree.

"Me!" Rishid shouted and clung to a branch to hang off. He kicked at Yami who had gotten too close in a leap. "Come help me!"

"Nothing, Malik." He smirked at Rishid. "Let's go inside."

"Damn you thief!" Rishid collapsed against the tree. Sleep. He needed sleep. He'd deal with the thief later. Then the rain started.

This time, Rishid cried.

* * *

Rishid quietly thanked Harakhti for bringing the sun and getting rid of the rain. However, more curses to Ma'at because those dogs were still there. He made up his mind. Rishid was a man. He could take this like a man. So, he did the manly thing and took this opportunity to jump out of the tree making sure to land on Hamlet's head. He laughed when the dog yelped. That was for the rump bite. Rishid sprinted for the door of the apartment complex, long coat flowing behind him. By the time he reached the door he had suffered two more bites and a bruised elbow. Not too bad, and he thanked Sepa for making sure his wild animals weren't aided by a locked door. That would have just been cruel. A sigh and a quiet prayer to Nehebukau for healing (okay, so it wasn't a snake or a scorpion bite! Close enough.) before starting down the hallway looking for the elevator.

"Pervert!" Rishid jumped at the shrill voice from behind him.

He turned in time to see a purse slam into the tattooed side of his face before seeing the skirt of an old woman fly behind her apartment door. Okay, he could take a hint. He needed pants. Luck was on his side as he turned to see an open door just down the hall. A quick peak inside and he was favored by a pair of pants sitting on the couch. They were hideous; some weird combination of pink and green striped silk pants. He sighed, if he was going to sink to stealing something, he at least hoped it'd be worth the effort. Whatever, he should be happy they fit at least. Though, he knew he'd never live it down from Master Malik. He pulled his coat tighter around himself and continued his way down the hall silk pants swishing happily against his legs. Rishid was happy that they put names next to the numbers on the doors, if they didn't he never would have found Bakura's apartment so quickly. He knocked on the door and growled when he didn't receive an answer.

Screw etiquette. Rishid invited himself into the apartment…only to find the apartment empty it seemed. He huffed and wondered briefly just what Ma'at still had in store for him when he noticed the bottles on the floor. He picked one up, shook the contents in the bottom lightly, and took a swig.

He deserved it.

After his nerves were settled with the help of a strong drink, or two, Rishid took a good look around the apartment for some clue as to where his charge and his bad influence of a friend could be at. He double checked all of the rooms just to make sure they weren't hiding and he knew that white haired bastard had seen him in the tree last night. Rishid hit the wall when he checked the last room. All that was there was a game table set up with some diorama and a newspaper clipping with something circled in red.

Wait.

A closer inspection revealed a sale for that _Monster World_ game at the mall neatly marked with the red ink. A quick check on the time for the sale compared with a check for the time on the wall and the math fit! Rishid took one last swig and decided not to spend any more time than necessary in this apartment. He pulled at the silk pants to try and get them to fit better on his way out.

In the meantime, Mr. Jacobs on the first floor was singing praises that Aunt Gertrude's hideous pants she had bought him for Christmas that one year had gone missing.

* * *

The mall was loud, crowded and confusing. Rishid held his head as he checked a map in an attempt to look for this damn game store. After about five minutes looking, he finally found it and hoped Master Malik appreciated all his efforts! Much to his dismay however, Malik was no where to be seen. He did however spy the pharaoh and Bakura, which told him Malik was probably here at one point. He took a moment to glare at Bakura for causing all of this trouble before thinking. Malik had to be somewhere around this place, but Rishid assumed that he'd stay close to Bakura. He rather liked that boy for some odd reason.

"I guess he already left." Rishid sighed and turned away. Maybe Malik had gone off somewhere else in the mall. That boy always was a sucker for new fashion. Rishid stopped outside of a small game shop as he caught the sight of a familiar blonde head. It was that Jonouchi boy! His friend was with him, and there was some other boy hanging around. There was someone in the way so all he could catch was the top of a very sandy blonde head. And were those golden dangling earrings he could see from the corner!

"I just love your pants! They look exactly like a pair I got my nephew."

Rishid was stopped from his march towards the shop by a small old lady blocking his path. He looked over her head to see that familiar blonde mop start walking away and he cursed a few more of his gods while he was at it. "Excuse me, Ma'am."

"Where did you get them?" She refused to get out of Rishid's way. "I got mine at a department shop."

"I," Rishid paused for a moment. "Thrift store."

"Really? Someone threw those out?"

"I can't imagine why, now if you'll excuse me."

"What thrift store? Maybe it was one of the nicer ones." She smiled and tried pulling up Rishid's coat to get a better look. "My, those look _exactly_ like the pair I bought. Can I see the tag?"

"Could you please let go!" This was absurd. He was six foot something and this four foot nothing lady was giving him a hard time! After about five to six minutes of struggling, Rishid managed to get out of the woman's clutches, but he had lost his target! He nearly cried on the spot, but he persevered. He could handle this situation just fine.

Two ice cream cones later, of the chocolate flavor variety, and Rishid took one last look around the mall. All he found was the Pharaoh sitting next to a fountain or something. Rishid knew it was petty, but he knew somewhere along the lines it was either all Bakura's fault, or all Yami's fault for encouraging this whole mess. He tried to keep from glaring, but as long as the man wasn't looking his way he might as well make use of it. He imagined Yami as the barking dog he'd seen earlier and chuckled.

Rishid left the mall soon after and realized it was late in the afternoon and he was still hungry. However, Master Malik had all the money. Rishid grumbled and started walking in the direction of his hotel. He was sleeping in a bed tonight and nothing was going to stop that. He whistled as he walked down the street before bumping into a rather rough looking teenager. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you'll be sorry. Nobody messes with me."

Rishid ducked when the kid took a swing at him. "Please, this violence isn't necessary. I apologized!"

"You hit me first! Take your licks like a man!" The kid took another chance at a punch before calling some friends. "Hey guys!"

"You have got to be kidding me." Rishid held his head in his hands when he was jumped by the five or six brats. He briefly heard someone in the background screaming 'Police!'

* * *

At least the police station had beds. Rishid rubbed his shoulders as he walked out of the station. They had kept him for a day and a half for rowdy behavior. That was all Rishid wished to recall of the past two days and he left it at that. At least they believed him after he had cried enough in front of them. He must have spilled his entire life story crying over the mess that brat has left him in. No, he wouldn't think about it. On that note, he ignored the laughter coming from the station as he left.

Taking a breath and wiping the grime of his face with some water from a fountain, Rishid straightened and started walking. His destination: A certain apartment where a certain white-haired bastard was holding his brat of a master hostage. He was a spoiled son-of-a-bitch; but he was Rishid's spoiled son-of-a-bitch.

The dogs were waiting for him outside of the apartment but he didn't care. He had enough of this entire fiasco and there was _nothing_ going to stand in his way. "Move." The four dogs, surprisingly enough, weren't stupid. They moved and allowed Rishid to bust into the doors of the apartment complex. His coat swished behind him and the green and pink pants swayed against his legs.

Upon reaching the apartment door, he kicked it open as hard as he could. He walked in to find absolutely no one around. Well, there was a dog there now tied to the door, but it sensed his bad mood and backed into a corner whining. His anger rose at the thought of missing that brat of a master _again._ But, that's when he heard it. The small muffling of voices in the other room. Rishid smiled when he realized success was close. He marched swiftly to the side room door and flung it open with all of his might.

"Hey, Rishid." Malik waved happily. "Where have you been?"

"Master Malik." Rishid looked at the large group of people sitting around the game table staring at him.

"Hey, um, Rishid, would you like to play too?" Sam asked. The more the merrier right?

 _You have no idea._ Bakura snickered inside Sam's head.

"Yes, do play Rishid." Malik patted a spot on the floor where Rishid could kneel.

"Yes, Master Malik." Rishid willed himself not to explode in any way whether it be by anger or tears. Maybe cursing ever god in his pantheon over the past three days wasn't the wisest of decisions.

* * *

Ryou hummed quietly in the center of the floor. That Al fellow had given him instructions to clean the room, he even left a bucket of warm water and a scrub brush, but Ryou rather liked the new additions. Besides, what was the man going to do? Ryou sat up when the door swished open. A new guy walked in and picked up the bucket and cleaning supplies and walked out without a word.

"Are you sure you'd rather not cooperate with us, Ryou?"

Ryou looked up at the ceiling at the sound of the intercom system. That was new, usually the man came in and talked in person. "Not a chance. I don't trust you."

"Suit yourself, kiddo." Al sighed and flipped off the loud speaker. He turned to the man next to him and kept his face level. "Do it."

"But sir, isn't that almost torture?" The assistant hesitated.

"Drastic measures seem to be necessary." Al lit his cigar. "But don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"Okay."

Ryou scoffed as the room went quiet and tapped the ground to listen to the echo. Who did that Al think he was anyway? What could he possibly do to Ryou? He laughed to himself and turned over. Nothing could be worse than what he'd put up with while Bakura was in his head. Ryou briefly wondered if the spirit was alright.

The lights turned off.


	10. Part 9. The Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A year and some late, horrid, and what not – but it's here. I'm done with this chapter; I've been staring at it far too long – it's up. Hopefully it wont' take a year to update this again, but no promises. Anyway, enjoy! And yes, a special character will make an appearance – consider it a loophole because I promised he-knows-who-he-is that this person would be in this story. So he's staying. Thanks for reading!

It was very dark.

At first, Ryou scoffed – he had lived with the darkness in the back of his head for years, so sitting in it for a few hours wasn't so bad. In fact, he had laughed out loud and mocked that idiot Al for a while before laying down with his back flush to the floor. If it was dark he might as well sleep; or try. Ryou wasn't very tired and was still bored; it was hard to color when you couldn't see what you were doing. Ryou was still convinced that nothing that Al could do would be worse than Bakura and the shadow realm. Now that was a real nightmare with all the shadows and monsters and other creepy stuff floating around.

So he thought anyway, but it was too quiet and the sound of his own heart and breathing were near deafening by that third or forth or fifth hour; it was hard to tell how long he'd been here. Ryou shoved his face into his knees and kept his hands clamped over his ears as he curled into as tight a ball as possible. This room was suffocating him; it was hot and Ryou could barely tell if he was sitting upright. He wondered briefly how this could feel so bad when nothing was in the room to hurt him. That's right, there was _nothing_ here but him. He was all alone.

Ryou really, really missed Bakura.

* * *

"Are you sure this is okay?"

"I know, Jack. I know." Al ran his hand through his hair. He'd seen some bad things in his Navy days, but this was starting to get to him. Maybe total sensory deprivation hadn't been the best way to handle the situation, but he'd made that choice and now he had to stick with it. Nothing else was getting through to the kid and they needed information on this spirit in Sam's head. Al had a bad feeling in his head about that guy that he couldn't quite shake. It was guttural and made him itch for his cigar more than usual. "But it's only been about two hours. If he doesn't crack by the end of hour three we'll let him out."

The assistant tapped his finger on the button for the lights. To be on the safe side of course. "Just as long as you're sure."

"I'm sure." Al hoped he was anyway. He then caved to his instincts and dug through his coat for a cigar; he was going to need it. The kid was lucky though that Al was starting to feel bad for him sitting there in the middle of the floor rocking back and forth. At least now he'd start behaving and cooperating with the rest of them. "On the bright side of things, it's not like he'll remember any of this when we're done."

"Great way to brush off trauma, boss."

"Oh shut up."

* * *

"Are you morons done yet? I want to get this game done and over with before I'm old." Kaiba tapped his fingers on the desk as he turned the computer to the front. He had the game scenario set up and was ready to go once the others got their acts together. He didn't have all day to beat them into the table; not that it should take long. There was no way that brat Yugi was as good at this game as he was Duel Monsters. Kaiba was more worried about the white haired boy; if the room dedicated to Monster World was any indication; he played this game too much. "What are your player types so I can input the data?"

"Ah, well everyone but Malik, Rishid, Yami and Bakura should be in the computer." Sam gulped and turned to the others. He held up a the small box that held the tiny figurines from the last time everyone played the game together. "I hope you don't mind, but I assumed you'd still want your old characters?"

"Yeah, that's fine Bakura! It'll be fun being a beast tamer again." Yugi smiled and reached for the small piece. "I'm surprised you kept these."

"Well, you know." Sam laughed and rubbed his hair as the others grabbed their pieces and put them on the board. Jonouchi was already poking his piece and making fake sword swings in the air at Honda. Anzu looked amused none the less at her own figure. "And it looks like it paid off."

Yugi giggled and set his figurine at the starting point of the board on his half while Bakura set his own white wizard down. Yami was pretty excited too if the amount of energy Yugi was picking up from his half was any indication. "Yeah, this is going to be a lot of fun, Bakura."

"Um, would you mind calling me Ryou?" Sam decided this was as good a time as any. They were confusing the heck out of him calling him Bakura all the time and since both he and the thief would be playing this game it would be good to distinguish between the two of them. He actually wondered how Ryou put up with it before, though then again – it's not like Ryou was open to telling others about the spirit. "The spirit of the ring likes to go by the name 'Bakura."

"Oh, of course." Yugi nodded at Bakura's, no Ryou's, hopeful look. "We can do that, right guys?"

"Yup! And now that crazy thief's got a name." Jonouchi gave a thumbs up. He paused and rubbed his hair for a moment. "Kinda weird you guys have the same name though."

"It is an odd coincidence, Jonouchi." Sam laughed with the others. This was rather pleasant; no matter how Bakura was grumbling about boredom in the back of their head.

Kaiba rolled his eyes at the chatter just kept going. When the brunettes looked like they were going to start adding in their two cents, Kaiba did his best to break it up. He could only deal with so much stupidity at a time. "Alright, well that settles it for half of you – what about the other 'four'" Kaiba made quotes around the four because he still didn't understand why the white haired kid and Yugi were playing two characters. Ah well, whatever floated their boat.

"I want to be a thief character!" Malik raised his arm and looked expectantly at Bakura. When he heard Rishid do that 'old man' sigh he remembered that he needed a piece, too. he thought for a minute at what character type would fit his sort-of brother and servant...and came up with nothing. "Rishid'll be the same."

Sam laughed and pulled out two pieces. He was starting to feel bad for that Rishid guy, but decided that not much could be done about it. "I figured as much and thought ahead. Well, for Malik anyway. I'm sorry Mr. Rishid, I didn't have time to make you a piece."

"When'd you make these?" Malik stared at the cute little piece of himself with a dagger. It looked just like him, save for the size. The young Egyptian had to give Ryou props for detail. Too bad Rishid got a basic character piece; maybe he should have invited him to play earlier. Or maybe he could get Ryou to make one for him later when he had some time. "They look amazing."

Sam smiled softly at Bakura's prompt He'd been letting his perpetual smile drop more often and that was a problem. Sam didn't know how Yugi managed to pull that off. "The other day while you were sleeping."

"Oh."

"Alright, enough." Kaiba moaned into his hand currently digging out one of his eyes. The young billionaire swore that if Mokuba hadn't convinced him to keep his word from the mall that he wouldn't be here. They were trying his patience and he was close to walking out. However, knowing his luck Mokuba would find out some how if he ditched. He was most definitely a Kaiba. "What about the other 'two'?"

_Now, we're talking!_

_What's got you so excited, Bakura?_ The physicist could feel the 'oh boy' on his tongue when the evil spirit started snickering (maniacal laughter might be a more appropriate term) in his head. _Whatever you're going to do, don't!_

Bakura started to laugh out loud as Sam yelped from the sudden yank. He had been waiting for his cue all day and Mr. Perfect wasn't going to screw this up. Bakura cracked his knuckles and smirked as his item glowed brightly calling the Pharaoh out to yell at him. Well, let him yell, cause it was time for this Evil Spirit of the Ring to have some fun. "I've got that covered."

* * *

"Ready to talk yet, kiddo?"

Ryou's head popped up at the sound of the voice echoing in the room. He would have been relieved; had he not been hearing his own made up voices for a few hours or however long he'd been in there. He really hoped that he didn't need to see a psychiatrist again. "Are you real?"

"Whoo, boy." Al rubbed his eyes and tapped his finger next to the microphone in the control room. Definitely wasn't one of his bright ideas. This was worse than the 'Am I dead?' fiasco when they first met. He should have considered the possibility this kid had real mental issues. "Yes, it's me. Al, remember?"

"Yes?"

"You going to answer my questions now?"

"Will you turn the lights back on?"

Al almost smiled at the timid question. It was weird seeing such a young voice pipe up from out of Sam's body, but it only reminded him that sixteen year olds were still children. "Yup, just answer a few of my questions."

Ryou winced and took a deep breath. He really wanted that guy to turn on the lights, but he still felt like he shouldn't tell this man anything about the thief and the other realms. Bad things happened when people got involved with this stuff uninvited. "I'm not sure if that's such a good idea..."

Al paused and turned to his assistant while covering the mic so Ryou couldn't hear. "Go ahead and start turning the light's on slowly. It'll kill his eyes if we turn it on suddenly." He waited for the nod before turning back to the kid in the white room. He had a inkling that he wasn't going to like what came next. "What do you mean?"

"The shadows might think it's cheating."

"The shadows?"

"It's not good to make them angry."

Al felt that sick feeling come back into his gut. If he were Sam, he was sure an 'Oh, boy' would have slipped out by now.

* * *

At first he was concerned when Bakura took control, but then Sam felt the familiar pull of the leap and smiled to himself. He just _knew_ that playing this game was the key to the mission! And they didn't even need Ziggy to confirm it. He just hoped Al could catch up with him sooner than later with this unplanned leap happening so quickly. As Sam opened his eyes however, he was greeted not with new surroundings and a new life to save, but with a giant Kaiba towering over him and a fake plastic game board. Looking down at his circular hands, it seemed that he was now a two inch tall figurine. "Oh boy."

 _I told you this would be fun._ Bakura smirked down at the game board and all of the cute little figurines. He hoped Sam enjoyed his time as a model; it was a once in a lifetime experience after all. _Seems having your soul ripped from your body feels exactly like this 'leap' of yours. Interesting._

"Tomb Robber!" Yami reached out and yanked the thief by his collar to pull him over for better eye contact. He could feel his Partner and friends as pieces in the game board and needless to say: he was pissed. Yami knew trusting the Tomb Robber was too much to ask. Why the hell didn't he listen to his instincts? Oh yeah, he did whatever his partner asked of him. Curse those puppy dog eyes! His words were clipped when he continued. "What did you do?"

Bakura smirked and tilted his head just so the hair would fall over his face. "Don't get your panties in a bunch, your highness." Bakura smacked the offending hand off of his arm and straightened his collar. "They're fine. I just figured a shadow game would make this more interesting. Landlord and Malik are down there too ya' know."

Yami tightened his fist and growled and almost slammed the table but thought better of it considering the figurines of his friends. "Damn you. So help me."

"Get off it! I already told you, it's fine. There's no consequence for the game. Once it's over everyone goes back to normal no matter who wins or loses." Bakura frowned at the Pharaoh. He really didn't need to explain himself to _him._ "You can't tell me that it isn't more fun this way."

Yami cursed the thief in his head; sadly enough it was more because he was right. A shadow game would make things more fun...no. He couldn't afford to think that way. There was no way of knowing if the thief had their best interests in mind; even if it was more fun. "What about rolling the dice? I doubt they can in their current form."

"We'll do it like last time." Bakura shrugged and picked up the dice in his hand. He rattled them about and stuck out his tongue. "We're on teams anyway, so now we've got our teams and you and I can roll instead of playing as actual characters."

"Aren't the teams uneven then? I'm surprised you're playing with a handicap considering you have three players to my four."

"I took care of that." Bakura pointed down to the field to the new figurine that the Pharaoh had clearly missed. Little Sam hadn't known he made that one, too. It was the perfect resemblance if he said so himself.

Said new figurine taking in its surroundings and noticing that there weren't any dark shadows to be seen – came to the conclusion that he was no longer in the Shadow Realm. The dark half of Malik's soul was pleased. "Ha! Now I can continue to conquer the world and destroy the Pharaoh..." Said split personality trailed off as he looked down at himself. "...as a two-inch tall figurine. Well, damn."

"You brought back Malik's dark half!" Yami was yelling now and had grabbed Bakura with both of his hands. He shook the jerk for good measure. "You brought back the ultimate evil from the shadow realm just so you could have a forth team member?"

Bakura grabbed both of Yami's wrists and squeezed; the other man refused to let go, but that was fine. The thief just continued keeping a tight grip while leaning forward until he was right in the pompous prick's face. "One, No. _I_ am the ultimate evil. Two, yes."

 _Bakura! What's going on?_ Sam screamed through his mental link on the board.

_Pharaoh's being an ass?_

_You know damn well that's not what I meant!_

_Get over it._ Bakura put the little man out of his head. Let him play on the board with the others and be done with it. "Now, Yami are we going to play this game or not?" Bakura smiled pleasantly doing his best to mimic his landlord. "The sooner the game's over the sooner your friends aren't unconscious lumps on the floor."

Yami reluctantly released the thief and put his hands back down on the board. "You're positive that there are no negative consequences for _anyone_ involved at the end of this game."

"Positive. Everything goes back to normal the moment it ends." Bakura snorted. "I told you, I owe Landlord a favor so every thing's going to be fine."

"Fine, fine. So you two are playing while everyone else takes a nap. Joy. Just get on with it and roll the damn dice!" Kaiba smacked the table and rattled all the pieces. Yugi and the albino gasped for a moment, but that was none of his concern. This chit chat was getting ridiculous.

Yami raised an eyebrow and looked at his long time rival before down at the board and his unconscious friends. "Five people pass out on the floor and you just tell us to continue on and roll the dice?"

"Do you have a problem with it?"

"Nope. Suits me just fine" Bakura smiled and rubbed his hands together while Yami groaned and held his head. "Team Evil's all ready to go."

 _Hey!_ Jonouchi shouted from the board. He'd been keeping his calm while the big guys argued but that was too much. _Ryou's not evil!_

 _Sorry, Jonouchi! Seems I've been drafted!_ Sam called across the board at Ryou's blonde friend. _I guess we'll just have to put up with it._

 _Damn! I was hoping I'd never be this tiny again._ Jonouchi grumbled. _At least no one's going to die this time._

Anzu and Honda were keeping quiet for the moment. Yugi at this point had started to pat Jonouchi while what they all assumed was having a mental conversation with Yami. All in all, everyone hoped the thief was telling the truth; the fact Ryou was calm was seemed to be a good sign.

 _It'll be okay, Yami. I'm sure Bakura's just trying to make things more interesting._ Yugi tried to cheer his other half. The poor man was fighting with himself because even Yugi could tell that this whole Shadow Realm game was exciting to him. But he felt guilty about it, too. That just wouldn't do. _We should just make the best of it and have some fun._ Yugi smirked. _If you keep pouting like that than Bakura's going to win!_

 _Oh he is not._ Yami tilted his head up to look down at the little piece. _I can assure you, Partner. We are winning this._

 _That's the spirit!_ Yugi laughed before turning to the rest of his friends to give them a similar motivational speech.

Malik in the meantime, was frowning at his other half. His dark half was sure to have figured out they were here by now. _I can't believe Bakura called_ you _here._

 _Ah, my weaker half seems to be here, too. How wonderful._ The dark half of Malik's soul snorted. _And there's Rishid, Bakura's little brat and what seems to be the Pharaoh's little gang of tag-a-longs over there._

 _What wonderful observational skills._ Malik rolled his little figurine eyes and tried to hop closer to Rishid and farther from his other half. Bakura was getting hell from him after this. He'd argue now, but Bakura was looking far too smug up there to do anything.

The demented split personality, who could now also add annoyed to his list of descriptions, turned to the thief's host with a growl. The little one was the lesser of the two evils to find out what was going on considering his other options were his bratty weak half and the slave. _Why the hell am I a figurine?_

Sam chuckled nervously. He had no idea who this other person was. _Um, Bakura wanted to make the game more interested?_ He looked over at Malik who was with Rishid. Something was amiss with this sudden doppelgänger. _Have we met?_

 _Ah, I guess not. I should introduce myself than._ The more evil of the Ishtar's chuckled darkly. _I'm Malik's split personality created by anger and hate and what not for revenge._ The sentence was finished with a bit of smug laughter.

Bakura owed Sam when this was all over with. _How, um, pleasant. Nice to meet you._

"So, seems my team is set. What about yours o' Team Evil?" Yami smirked. If they were going to do this, they were going to do this right.

Bakura grinned. "As good as they're going to get."

As the two ancient spirits rose their adrenaline levels in anticipation of the fight, a certain CEO (while inwardly impressed at the other two's ventriloquism abilities) was losing his temper. Therefore, Kaiba said what was on his mind. "Roll the dice and start this game _now_ or I'm leaving."

"Okay, okay. Don't get your panties in a bunch." Bakura smirked and flipped one of the dice with his finger. "Pharaoh's first."

"So be it, just be prepared to lose Thief." Yami smirked and picked up the dice. All the pieces were in play, both teams were shooting for the win. The Pharaoh let the dice hit the ground and it was time for:

Game Start!


End file.
